{"id":13992,"date":"2012-11-13T15:42:50","date_gmt":"2012-11-13T22:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=13992"},"modified":"2012-11-13T15:42:50","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T22:42:50","slug":"bahraini-dissidents-face-deeper-systematic-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=13992","title":{"rendered":"Bahraini Dissidents Face Deeper, Systematic Crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bahraini Dissidents Face Deeper, Systematic Crackdown<\/strong>
\nDaniel R. DePetris – November 12, 2012 – Atlantic Sentinel<\/p>\n

Bahrain may appear a relatively stable Western ally in a critically important region of the world there is a dark cloud hanging over the small island kingdom.<\/p>\n

The peaceful protests in Bahrain that were once prevalent during the beginning of the country\u2019s version of the \u201cArab spring\u201d have succumbed to a dangerous mix of arrests, flimsy prosecutions, indefinite detention, torture and violence. A significant part of this is fueled by the Bahraini monarchy\u2019s refusal to enact political reforms, much to the chagrin of international human rights activists. Recommendations to enhance the power of the legislature and prosecute senior security officials who are suspected of abuse have been largely ignored.<\/p>\n

Instead of more freedom to speak and a political order that is more accountable to Bahrain\u2019s people, what the country\u2019s residents have faced is a deeper and more systemic crackdown on their activities.<\/p>\n

In October, all protest gatherings were decreed to be illegal. The government has since ramped up arrests and thrown ordinary citizens in prison for \u201churting Bahraini unity and solidarity.\u201d Some of the very civil rights activists that were released from prison have been arrested and convicted again.<\/p>\n

The United States Government, Bahrain\u2019s biggest patron outside the Middle East, has been mostly quiet despite these abuses. Policy makers have spoken out publicly against the situation in the kingdom on occasion but only when high profile figures were convicted on questionable grounds in Bahraini courts. The Obama Administration also condemned Bahrain when it banned all protests. \u201cThe decision to curb these rights is contrary to Bahrain\u2019s professed commitment to reform and it will not help advance the national reconciliation nor build trust among all parties,\u201d said a spokesman for the State Department.<\/p>\n

Public remarks cannot be Washington\u2019s only pressure valve. Criminalizing public demonstrations has the effect of silencing all peaceful avenues of dissent. With no way to voice their anger in a legitimate way, Bahrainis may take it upon themselves to exercise more confrontation toward their authorities. Police officers have already been killed from firebombs and homemade explosives. The casualties could get a lot worse if the order to block peaceful assembly remains in place over an indefinite period of time. ….more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Bahraini Dissidents Face Deeper, Systematic Crackdown Daniel R. DePetris – November 12, 2012 – Atlantic Sentinel Bahrain may appear a relatively stable Western ally in a critically important region of the world there is a dark cloud hanging over the small island kingdom. The peaceful protests in Bahrain that were once prevalent during the beginning more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[708],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13993,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13992\/revisions\/13993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}