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Bahrain uprising has been peaceful: Former Bahraini MP

Friday, 11 March 2016 10:00 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 11 March 2016 9:59 AM ]

Bahraini protesters run for cover during clashes with riot police in the village of Sitra, south of the capital, Manama, January 8, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Press TV has conducted an interview with Jalal Fairooz, a former Bahraini MP, about the silence of Western organizations in dealing with suppression and human rights violations in Bahrain.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Why aren’t the rights violations committed by Bahraini authorities reviewed by Western organizations? Where does the problem stem from?

Fairooz: Well, it’s been all the time that there have been calls from the international community and human rights groups for the Bahraini government to stop the atrocities and the violations. Actually and I’m thinking today there was a very strong session in the Human Rights Council in Geneva and, well, lots of speakers talked about the Bahraini atrocities. One of them was the special rapporteur on torture. Also he spoke of how he has not been allowed to go to Bahrain in five years to check on the accusations of the torture, which is of course... all the human rights groups talked about it.

It is very unfortunate today that we can see the UK backing Bahraini regime and stopping any statement which has been prepared by some of the European countries. Unfortunately, now the UK is defending the dictatorship in Bahrain.

Press TV: How different is Bahrain’s popular revolution to those of other Arab countries in terms of the monarchs being toppled?

Fairooz: Well, the people of Bahrain probably they are not asking for overthrow of the government. They are asking for their basic rights of democracy. They are asking that they have to be part of the government and not to be a slave as the dictatorship in Bahrain wants them.

And the Bahrainis have always been very peaceful in their uprising, other than probably you could see how things are going on in Syria and Libya for example, but the people of Bahrain have been... to being very peaceful.

And also the other side is that you could see how the [Persian] Gulf states are supporting whoever is against the regime in Syria, but they are with the regime against the people in Bahrain.

And also some Western governments like the UK and partially the US are supporting dictatorships not supporting the people of Bahrain even though they have the right to stand up for whatever they are asking for.

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