A meeting between British government officials and the Al Khalifa regime in Bahrain to sign a trade agreement sparked protests by human rights activists.
British human rights activists have protested Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s noisy meeting with officials in Bahrain’s Al Khalifa regime.
According to the Guardian, the Foreign Office and the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom did not release any information prior to the meeting between Johnson and Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain.
However, after the meetings, the British government said in a statement that the two sides had agreed to “strengthen economic, security and diplomatic cooperation”.
Britain is seeking a new trade deal with GCC member states, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. However, due to the human rights record of some of these countries, such trade agreements seem to be opposed by members of the British Parliament.
Paul Scriven, a Liberal Democrat from the House of Lords, said in response to a meeting between Al Khalifa officials and British government officials: “I was shocked by the fact that the Prime Minister spread the red carpet and preferred torture to meeting with the Crown Prince, but unfortunately I was not surprised. Even the official statement did not mention human rights violations [in Bahrain].”
On the other hand, the director of the Bahrain Institute of Law and Democracy said: “If Britain is really looking for a trade deal with a regime that holds political prisoners hostage, tortures children and even moderate critics, it is essential that human rights issues be a principle in any future trade relationship.”
According to the Independent newspaper, a member of the human rights organization “Priv” also said: “The British government often speaks proudly about relations with Bahrain. So why do they take the Crown Prince of Bahrain out of the back door and not announce this meeting?”
The Bahraini activist added: “The truth is that British government officials know that Bahraini authorities are systematically using the death penalty and torture to suppress dissent, and yet Britain is generously supporting the perpetrators. These protections are against British values ​​and [the British government] should stop supporting the opposition until the Bahraini government stops using torture to confess and sentence the opposition to death.”
The British group Campaign against Arms Sales recently announced that the government had authorized the sale of $ 120 million worth of weapons to the Bahraini regime since 2001, of which $ 40 million was for light weapons.
“Andrew Smith, a spokesman for the human rights group, said: “The Bahraini regime has a long and shameful history of persecution and atrocities. The image of Boris Johnson greeting one of the regime’s top officials in the prime minister’s office is nauseating. “This is a clear and unequivocal sign of support for the dictatorship and of overshadowing the activities of human rights defenders.”
Smith added that Boris Johnson’s view of “global Britain” seemed to “carry on talking about the importance of democracy, but fueled repression and strengthened violators [of human rights].”
Recently, Bahraini protesters gathered in front of the Bahraini embassy in Britain for two consecutive days, demanding the unconditional release of all political prisoners.
Twenty law enforcement agencies also recently called on Bahraini authorities to release opposition activists and human rights defenders. The organizations stressed that the lives of these people are at risk of coronary heart disease and should be released as soon as possible.
The Al-Khalifa regime in Bahrain is one of the governments that, through former US President Donald Trump, formally signed a normalization agreement in the White House, following which they signed cooperation agreements in various fields.