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US, UK pursuing own interests in Bahrain: Analyst

Friday, 13 January 2017 11:26 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 13 January 2017 11:26 AM ]

British Prime Minister Theresa May (L) greets King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa outside 10 Downing Street in London on October 26, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the Bahraini regime for the increase of suppression of activists and critics in 2016. In its 2017 world report, the New York-based rights organization declared that orchestrated crackdown on the rights to free expression, assembly, and association had further undermined the prospect of a political solution to the unrest in the Arab nation.

Edward Corrigan, a political commentator from Ontario, said Western powers and media are not going to express much interest in human rights violations in Bahrain and other dictatorial regimes in the Middle East, because the West does not care about human rights as long as they make money and the situation is as stable as they wish.

“The United States has made minimal criticisms of the regime in Bahrain,” because the Americans have a major naval base in the Arab country, Corrigan told Press TV on Thursday night.

He also said that the United Kingdom has shown its all-out support for the Al Khalifa regime and London has a controversial multi-million pound program for Bahrain’s security and justice system.

According to the analyst, Western corporate media likes the situation in the Arabian Peninsula and the Western powers have no concern over human rights violations until it becomes a problem for them.

Since mid-February 2011, Bahrain has been rocked by a wave of anti-regime demonstrations. The Al Khalifa regime use Saudi Arabia’s security forces and its own police to quash protestors and activists, but the Bahraini people insist on their demand for freedom and equality.

He went on to say that the feudal regime of Bahrain uses repression to control people and the Bahraini authorities are “totally dependent on American and British power to maintain themselves in power.”

Since the Al Khalifa dynasty has no legitimacy and carries out harsh tactics to suffocate any criticism and opposition, the Western support for Bahrain has brought about criticism not only in the Middle East but even in Europe and the United States, he argued.

He warned that if the Bahraini monarchy continues to suppress protesters and rights activists, the country may end up in “a big explosion” and violence, which would destabilize both the tiny island and the entire region.

The analyst also called on “the world and the United Nations” to condemn the human rights situation in Bahrain as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and other groups are doing.

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