ضØÂايا التعذيب يطاردونالجلادينÙÂيجنيÙÂ, originally uploaded by wardat_elbahrain.
Over 5,000 people attended a seminar organised by both the dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Committee Supporting Victims of Torture in Bilad Al-Qadeem near Manama to discuss the results of the recent United Nations report on torture in Bahrain.
You can see the attendees lifting banners calling for the enactment of CAT, Committee Against Torture recomendations, one of which is the repeal or at least an amendment to Decree 56 of 2002 which would bring the torturers to justice.
Wouldn’t you think that this is a perfect opportunity for the creation of a Truth and Reconcilliation Committee a la South Africa and more recently Morocco?
Sure a few (high) heads would roll because of it, but the Royal Family would be assured of ruling for another few centuries…
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The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
[quote]Sure a few (high) heads would roll because of it, but the Royal Family would be assured of ruling for another few centuries…[/quote]
That’s a gamble, Mahmood.
On the one hand, the Royal family most likely seeks to remain in power, but on the other hand, because of the parliament, you have a lot of up-and-comers in the power structure that want to remain in power as well. We see this in the US, though on a different scale. It takes someone with a lot of balls to stand up and pull the rug out from under the established (and ineffectual) power bases and take decisive action – and right now, decisive action is what is needed across the world. We cannot anymore allow people with vested interests cause political calcification.
BUT.. Does Bahrain want to be ruled by a monarchy for the next few centuries? Though the King now may be a far-seeing person, his successors may not be; and that puts a variable on the table that is unpredictable. I suppose this is one reason why people are so keen to jump on the Sharia bandwagon – rather than leave political decisions up to people, they leave them up to the unchanging God (though, in the ultimate twist of irony, God’s ‘unchanging law’ is a function of human interpretation – see Malik vs. The Extremists.)
In any case, this huge turnout can only say one thing: Bahrain seeks modernity and justice. This cannot be a bad thing 😀
The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
Mahmood,
Just curious but what would you say is the Sunni vs Shi % of the people at the seminar?
The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
i think that this is where events in iraq will have a direct effect on what happens here …
Re: The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
99% Shi’a I would think. Bahrain over the last 5 or 6 years has become a lot more sectarian than it ever was I think. It is palpable. And it sickens me really, but the fact is that the Shi’a think that they are being victimised and downtrodden and are asking for their legitimate rights which are not forthcoming, hence they resort to legal ways of getting those rights, like presenting shadow reports to various international media and organisations.
The Sunnis of course brand the Shi’a as “traitors” because of these activities.
To me, these activities demanding rights (repeal of law 56 – torture issues, retooling 47 – press freedoms, website registration – personal freedoms and freedoms of expression, truth and reconciliation demands) are legitimate and if implemented would benefit the community as a whole, not just a part of it and it boggles my mind to try to understand why the Sunnis in Bahrain appear to be standing in these demands for reforms path.
Is it because they will lose out if suddenly they have to share the cake with the disenfranchised 70% of the indigenous population as has been suggested by one of the articles I’ve read over the past few weeks in the local press, or is it that the Shi’as are in fact demanding too much and are prejudicing the advancement of this country as a whole?
This is a dilemma that we as Bahrainis must think about with an open mind and try to reconcile our goals as a community, otherwise our demands will fall on deaf ears and the old British “divide and rule” will continue to be the order of the day.
The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
What a rally! Is there a filter on my T.V.?
-Mike in the U.S.
Re(1): The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
From my experience there seem to be a couple of reasons why these events are attended overwhelmingly by Shias. First, it seems that many Sunnis don’t feel the sense of urgency that is felt by the Shia community. Many Sunnis are relatively better off and are content to let the ruling regime introduce the reforms at whatever pace it chooses. Even the many Sunnis who do support the causes don’t feel they are so urgent that they need to attend the events themselves in person. For the Shia however these are very urgent issues that are regularly discussed and advocated in community forums (such as matams and mosques).
The second point is that many of the events themselves have Shia overtones. It’s a bit hard to explain what I mean by this. But take for example that at almost all of the protests the chant of “allahuma sali wa sallim 3ala mohammad wa aale mohammed” (blessings on the prophet and progeny) is called several times. The meaning of these words aren’t specifically Shia, but chanting of the phrase is something associated with the Shia. And more generally, when everyone at an event is Shia, I can understand why a Sunni might feel somewhat intimidated or reluctant to participate. The only way to change this would be if leaders within the Sunni community were to support and coordinate these events with their Shia counterparts. But because of the first point I mentioned, this is not happening right now.
Re(5): The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
i agree.
but – where are these jobs going to come from????
Re(6): The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
don’t believe Bahrain has a true unemployment problem. Not as long as half of the population (ie workforce) is expats. What Bahrain is facing from my quasi “expat” view is a potential workforce that doesn’t want to work. Some of this is the low wage issue without a doubt, buT when faced with 50 bd a month on welfare of 120 to 300 BD a month WORKING many seem to chose government aide. Why is that? Who built the F1 track? Who is building the new Financial Harbor? Who is paving the roads? Watering the palms? Picking up the trash? Who’s your nurse? You doctor? Who runs and works at the local DQ? The list goes on and on. WHY??????????????????
New jobs must come from within the people itself. The “dreaded private sector”, and not from the government “teet”. The government must do a few things to make the hiring of Bahraini’s more attractive. Labor court reform and a good minimum wage are a start. Until this happens and the attitude of the workforce changes things will stay the same.
Re(2): The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
i think the discrimination goes both ways. the shia are marginalized as a group by the traditional sunni elite. and the shia will shun the sunnis right back by fighting even more for their right to be shia before they are bahraini. what has always been interesting to me are the persian arabs in this town. both the persian sunni and shia bahrainis seem to have found a way to identify themselves as not being either one or the other. and they have been very adept at being non-political but doing quite well in this country. look at the financial industry. they remind me of the jews in the states. successful with their head down.
i dont know how this gridlock will ever be broken. i think it will take a couple of generations. and i think that we will need to spend time celebrating the fact that bahrain is really a melange of cultures and people. we dont spend enough time celebrating that. and it is a real shame. maybe this is where the ministry of culture (one day) can come in and find a way for the state to really embrace all the minorities in this town – in a grass roots level.
the other thing to keep in mind is that the demographic challenge is going to leave us with a large group of citizens under the age of 35 – with the majority of them being poor shia. this means trouble ahead .. specially since we know that unemployment isnt going down, and that the economy wont be able to create all the jobs that are going to be needed to absorb these numbers. the issue is not that the majority will be shia. but that the majority will be poor, with no hope or prospects. Salvation will be perceoved to either come from God .. or from regime change…
i foresee problems …
Re(3): The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
how can celebration of disparate people even begin to be envisaged if people are still poor and hungry? Remember that hunger doesn’t have ears, it just wants to be satiated by any means possible, so it will be very malleable into whichever hands it falls in.
Couple that now with what is viewed by the vast majority of the population as gross injustice for allowing torturers to be not only free, but their ill-begotten gains are used to further enrich them and they walk the earth as if the people are at fault rather than their soiled hands with various blood.
You want more? Okay, how about the inequity in opportunities, be that business, education, health or even religion.
You’re right, we have an explosive mix of problems which have been fermenting for decades. The more they are ignored or glossed over, the louder the bang.
How would one go about to rectify the situation?
. Truth and reconciliation commission
. Fix the constitution
. Criminalise sectarianism & prejudice
. Enact the Personal effects law and allow citizens choose which they want to be governed under, the Shari’a or the law
. Give the Transparency commission teeth to ensure that any embezzler, corrupt public or private official is thrown into prison and his gains confiscated.
. Hold public officials accountable
. Ensure that opportunities are blind and are distributed proportionally
Re(4): The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
There is an old adage that I think will apply here. “IDLE HANDS are the DEVIL’s WORKSHOP”.
If the job (the lack of) problem is addressed and solved most of these other issues will take care of themselves. Now the big question is how do you take care of the job problem? Or is everything a catch 22 being damned if you do damned if you don’t? Low unemployment and a healthy economy I say is the cure you need. But I digress back to the post Mahmood put up a year or so ago about the problem with hiring many Bahraini’s. “You give me car?” “Mobile phone?” “I no come to work when I have period.. ok” (but your a guy right?)
The lack of Sunni participation in this seminar is cause for concern. I still believe if jobs (good ones) are available then most of these problems will resolve themselves. Economic freedom is the best liberator in my eyes.
Random thoughts from a damp and cool part of the word.
The Truth & Reconcilliation time is NOW.
Fascinating. …
Perhaps it will help in understanding true pluralism…
I wonder if women got equal rights in one country…would it encourage the rest?
Times of emerging equal rights is such an important time in any country. I wish I had participated in my own younger days….
thinker