UK Queen, King Hamad revel in Bday bash amid Bahrain ‘bloodier times’

Rights groups critical of Bahrain’s human rights track record are questioning the decision to seat of the King of Bahrain next to UK’s Queen Elizabeth II during her 90th birthday celebrations.  

During the birthday celebration held on Sunday, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was seated alongside the queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

The event was held at Windsor Castle and featured a parade of 900 horses, 10 for each of queen’s years, as part of the annual Royal Windsor Horse show. 

A Persian Gulf researcher for Human Rights Watch, Nicholas McGeehan, referred to the bash’s seating arrangement as an “error of judgment.”

"In isolation it looks like an injudicious decision to seat King Hamad next to the queen, but the reality is that the British monarchy have maintained close ties with the Al Khalifas in even bloodier times and more repressive times in Bahrain,” The Independent quoted him as saying on Wednesday.

Bahrain's main opposition bloc, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, recently released a report that said Bahraini forces had arrested 1,765 people, among them 120 children, in 2015 amid a total ban on protests across the country.

"It will no doubt be hugely pleasing to the current British government who have been over backwards to demonstrate their friendship to Bahrain’s rulers and been shamefully silent over their human rights abuses," added McGeehan.

Amnesty International also recently released a report which stressed that Manama had failed to cease its crackdown on dissent and freedom of expression.

“Opposition leaders remained imprisoned; some were prisoners of conscience. Torture and other ill-treatment remained common. Scores were sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials. Authorities stripped at least 208 people of their Bahraini nationality,” said the report.

London has been a staunch ally of the Al Khalifah regime. The UK government has approved more than 45 million pounds worth of arms sales to Manama since the 2011.

The UK started the construction work on a new Royal Navy base in the tiny state in October 2015. The £15-million facility, which is mainly funded by the Al Khalifah family, will accommodate Britain's new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers.

Bahrain has been rocked by uprisings since February 2011, with protesters calling on the Al Khalifah family to relinquish power. Scores of people have been killed and many more arrested in the heavy-handed crackdown on demonstrations.

“King Hamad presumably enjoyed his ringside seat at the queen’s birthday bash, but the disturbing reality for people back in Bahrain is a never-ending cycle of arrests, tear-gas raids, torture in detention and long prison sentences for peaceful protesters,” said Amnesty’s UK’s chief of policy and government affairs Allan Hogarth. 

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