Rights Groups Urge U.S. to Address Rights Crises Among Persian Gulf Allies

Date: 05 March 2021 - 21:25

News ID: ۸۸۲۲۴

MANAMA (Dispatches) – A group of 15 rights groups urged the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to address the deterioration of human rights U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf by adopting a rights-based foreign policy.
The group, which includes the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), Amnesty International, Reprieve, and the World Organization Against Torture, wrote in a letter to U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken on Wednesday that "Last December, you noted that ‘[i]n too many countries, people are imprisoned and face torture or death for speaking their minds, reporting the news, or demanding their rights.’ This statement sadly reflects the situation in Bahrain over the last four years”.
The letter points to human rights activists Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Nabeel Rajab and Ebtisam al-Saegh, who have been detained in Bahrain for their activism.
"The Biden administration should urge Bahrain to rescind restrictions on civil society, take genuine steps towards justice reform and the restoration of civil rights and reinstate restrictions on arms sales to Bahrain pending an improvement in the country’s rights record.”
Bahrain has engaged in a widespread crackdown since 2011, when the country’s royal family faced nationwide protests calling for its removal.
Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump would enhance its relations with some of the countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, in sheer disregard for their human rights abuses.
The rights group said that Bahrain’s rulers had been "emboldened” by the former U.S. president’s public disdain for international human rights norms.
"The advent of the Trump administration in 2017 heralded an unprecedented government crackdown in Bahrain which continues to this day,” the groups said.
The Persian Gulf’s litany of human rights abuses, however, goes back as far as 2011, when it came down hard on a popular uprising against the ruling Al Khalifah regime.
Scores have been killed and hundreds others jailed during the campaign of suppression against the peaceful rallies.