{"id":17155,"date":"2013-04-22T14:47:59","date_gmt":"2013-04-22T20:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=17155"},"modified":"2013-04-22T14:47:59","modified_gmt":"2013-04-22T20:47:59","slug":"scores-murdered-since-1st-cancelled-f1-race-new-intl-normal-okay-with-rights-abusing-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=17155","title":{"rendered":"Scores Murdered since 1st cancelled F1 Race, New Int’l normal, “okay” with rights abusing regime"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between Bahrain’s villages and F1 circuit, a stark contrast<\/strong>
\n20 April, 2013 – Rueters – By Alexander Dziadosz<\/p>\n

(Reuters) – Young men hurl rocks and petrol bombs at police. Police fire tear gas and stun grenades. Thousands gather to demand an end to a Formula One car race they see as a public relations stunt to gloss over chronic human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

But except for the odd plume of black smoke, hardly any sign of Bahrain’s two-year-old political crisis reaches the Grand Prix race site at the Sakhir circuit in the desert about 30 km (19 miles) southwest of the capital Manama.<\/p>\n

“When they talk about human rights, I don’t know what the human rights are or what it’s all about,” Formula One’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone told Reuters when asked about the political situation in Bahrain.<\/p>\n

Hosting Formula One is a point of pride for Bahrain’s rulers, who pay an estimated $40 million a year for the privilege. An image of the circuit is on the country’s half-dinar note.<\/p>\n

Speaking a day ahead of the race, Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman al-Khalifa – seen as one of the country’s more reform-minded officials – said it was a chance to bring the country together.<\/p>\n

“There are families out there – fathers, mothers, children – having the best times of their lives without regard to either ethnicity, sect or social income. So, I’m happy. And I go out there and I walk among the people and I’m comfortable,” he said.<\/p>\n

SHARP CONTRASTS IN TINY COUNTRY<\/p>\n

Along the palm-lined streets of the Formula One paddock, foreign women wear mini-skirts and sleeveless shirts – a blunt contrast to the full black dresses and veils favoured in nearby villages.<\/p>\n

Moving just a few hundred meters can make for a dizzying transition in the country, only a quarter the size of Luxembourg. In downtown Manama and the main roads, nothing appears amiss.<\/p>\n

But tucked just behind bland suburban strip malls, entire neighbourhoods are coated in graffiti, some decrying the race as “Formula Blood” – others calling for the downfall of Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa. Bricks, broken wood, and burn marks are evidence of protests.<\/p>\n

Many in these mostly Shi’ite villages see the race as a ploy to deceive the world into thinking there is nothing wrong in a country they say needs urgent democratic reform. Others frame it as part of the corruption they say is widespread.<\/p>\n

“In Bahrain, Formula One brings benefits only to the individuals behind it. The people of Bahrain don’t get any benefit from the race,” said Mohamed al-Sughayer, a 61-year-old financial consultant, at a recent protest.<\/p>\n

“Go around in any village, and would you believe this country has had oil for 80 years?”<\/p>\n

Almost nightly clashes between protesters and police – as well as regular peaceful rallies – have hit the Gulf Arab island kingdom since pro-democracy demonstrations started in February 2011 at the height of the Arab Spring.<\/p>\n

The Formula One race was cancelled that year during an uprising in which a government-commissioned report said 35 people died – a figure the mostly Shi’ite Muslim opposition says is too low. …more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Between Bahrain’s villages and F1 circuit, a stark contrast 20 April, 2013 – Rueters – By Alexander Dziadosz (Reuters) – Young men hurl rocks and petrol bombs at police. Police fire tear gas and stun grenades. Thousands gather to demand an end to a Formula One car race they see as a public relations stunt 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":[2139],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17155"}],"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=17155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17156,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17155\/revisions\/17156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}