UK-funded Bahraini watchdog's failure
Britons are spending millions of pounds for a Bahrain police watchdog that has failed to investigate torture allegations regarding a young political activist on death row in the Persian Gulf state.
The funding forms part of a broader £2.1 million scheme to improve Bahrain’s criminal justice system and was sparked by Britain’s close strategic ties to the UK.
Since Bahrain’s brutal crackdown on the protesters of 2011, human rights groups have expressed concern over its forces’ use of violence and torture.
Those with concerns about detainees’ treatment in Bahrain have been encouraged by the British government to contact the Persian Gulf state’s police ombudsman.
But the British-funded watchdog’s failure to investigate a complaint lodged by the family of a political activist on death row has brought its reputation into disrepute.
Ramadan, a 32-year-old airport guard from Bahrain, says he suffered torture and physical abuse at the hands of Bahraini authorities as punishment for his peaceful political activities. He is currently on death row, awaiting execution.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Information Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs said Ramadan was convicted of murdering a police officer and attempting to murder another using an explosive device.
Britain’s close ties to the kingdom of Bahrain are innately strategic. It has given the British government permission to build a naval base there – the first of its kind east of the Suez Canal in 45 years.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned in January that credible allegations of abuse and torture of detainees in Bahrain undercuts claims that the state’s criminal justice system is improving.
“There is a lack of will by some human rights organizations to press ahead with their main goals. So, they remain silent towards the violations committed by some governments which are in an alliance with the UK government,” a London-based analyst Rodney Shakespeare told Press TV.
He noted that most human rights organizations say they are independent but in reality they are not and go ahead with efforts to preserve the interest of certain governments.
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