Letter from Secretary General Sh. Ali Almahfoodh to Secretary Hillary Clinton, U.S. Department of State

[This letter has been authenticated as being from Secretary General S. Ali Almahfoodh Amal Society – Bahrain – on 26, April 2011. This letter is posted here for all to see and so no one can deny it’s existence. ]

From Secretary General Sh. Ali Almahfoodh
Amal Society – Bahrain

To Secretary Hillary Clinton,
U.S. Department of State,

U.S. Embassy in Bahrain

Regarding the U.S. Department of State press release, announced by Mr Mark Toner on Apr 14, 2011. Regarding the Ministry of Justice of the Kingdom of Bahrain filing a lawsuit to disband two leading, actively involved political societies, widely known on the local and regional level for their diplomatic and cultural political activism over the past ten years.

We value the position of the US when it urged the Kingdom of Bahrain to revise this decision, and protect civil society institutions in Bahraini society.

The statement of the spokesman was quick, critical in correcting the political path in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Although the government initiated the State of National Safety, it does not permit the government to abandon their commitment to Human Rights and freedoms, were they political, cultural or religious.

We notice that the government of Bahrain, through the Ministry of Interior and the State of National Safety targets one of these leading societies, the Islamic Action Society, through attacking their offices repeatedly and targeting their Secretary General, his deputy, board members and staff. Until the time this letter has been written, the headquarters and offices of the society were attacked twice, the computers were confiscated, in addition to 4 raids on the home of Secretary General and his deputy and the imprisonment of the board member Mr Fahmi Abdulsaheb two days ago. The Secretary General, his deputy and many members are still hiding because they are targeted by security forces, which denies their political rights.

All of these violations and persecutions took place after the statement of spokesperson Mr Mark Toner. Of course, the justifications of the Bahraini government and their security forces are unclear, especially after your efforts to prevent harassing political societies and your confirmations that these principles are a prerequisite for stability considering the popularity and activism of these societies, and that the government’s actions reflects negatively on the political process and worsens the situation in the country and stands in the way of achieving peaceful and practical solutions.

It should be noted that the Secretary General of the Democratic Action Society (Wa’ad) Ebrahim Sharif has been arrested for over a month, while Wa’ad is considered one of the pillars of the political process in Bahrain alongside its colleagues AlWefaq and Amal (Islamic Action Society) and other civil society institutions.

We believe that civil society institutions cannot be replaced, for they represent the people and they constitute a more democratic representation of society than the regime itself.

What’s taking place of violations, raids, persecutions and arrests in the ranks of the board members of the Islamic Action Society, restricting it and isolating its staff, does not differ from disbanding it in the manner the United States stood against in their direct statement and does not differ from deleting it and officially removing it from the scene, for the result is the same.

Based on this, we call on the authorities of the United States to pressure the government of Bahrain to respect civil society institutions and the freedom of their members and staff to peacefully express their opinions, especially that those
institutions express their opinions clearly, publicaly and officially through their known offices and headquarters. As well as the immediate release of all the staff of the Society and all the other opinion/ conscious prisoners in Bahraini prisons, and stopping their persecutions.

– Attached: Detailed report of the violations that occurred to board members of the Society and a list of the names of all the arrested from its members with their dates and details.

[Editor’s Note: the attachment was not avialbe at the time of publishing the letter here. It will be published as it is made available. ]