{"id":17170,"date":"2013-04-23T14:42:36","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T20:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=17170"},"modified":"2013-04-23T14:42:36","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T20:42:36","slug":"f1-protests-in-bahrain-draw-world-wide-attention-to-rights-and-democracy-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=17170","title":{"rendered":"F1 Protests in Bahrain draw World-wide Attention to Rights and Democracy Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bahrain: Protests for democracy defy the \u2018Formula of Blood\u2019<\/strong>
\n23 April, 2013 – Socialist Worker<\/p>\n

Yusur Al Bahrani looks how the arrival of the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain has sparked off a new round of protests<\/p>\n

Thousands of outraged protesters could not stop the controversial Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain. <\/p>\n

But they have exposed the brutality of the regime and attracted global attention. <\/p>\n

The Bahraini government tried to use the race to paper over grave ongoing human rights abuses. <\/p>\n

Thousands took to the streets in a series of protests a week prior to the race and during it, under the slogan \u201cdemocracy is our right\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bahraini security forces killed one peaceful protester, Salah Abbas, during last year\u2019s Formula One race. <\/p>\n

Since then the government has increased its crackdown on peaceful protesters, activists and ordinary people. <\/p>\n

People in Bahrain call the race \u201cFormula of Blood\u201d.<\/p>\n

Many protested peacefully. Formula One organisers have shamelessly ignored the concerns of people in Bahrain. <\/p>\n

Ali Salman, secretary general of the Al-Wefaq opposition party, agreed to meet Formula One\u2019s boss, Bernie Ecclestone. <\/p>\n

But the meeting never took place. <\/p>\n

The opposition wanted to explain the rightful demands of the people in Bahrain that Formula One organisers ignored. <\/p>\n

On 20 April, protesters tried to march to the Pearl Roundabout, which is known as Martyrs\u2019 Roundabout. <\/p>\n

Tens were arrested and injured. Government forces then raided homes hunting for activists. <\/p>\n

Alaa Shehabi is a Bahraini woman activist who posted on Twitter about her horrific experience during the day. <\/p>\n

She wrote, \u201cPolice have locked us up in a room. Women beaten up. Used CSS Spray (tear gas). Can hear screams upstairs. Shooting from upstairs.\u201d <\/p>\n

Revolutionary youths bought Formula One tickets and burnt them during protests. <\/p>\n

Some youths burned tyres and filled the skies with black smoke that was captured by the cameras during the race. <\/p>\n

The government of Bahrain considers burning tyres a terrorist act. <\/p>\n

Yet it is the one of the few means of peaceful resistance for angry young protesters. <\/p>\n

Minors have been detained, tried, and given harsh sentences under an anti-terrorism law that criminalises young protesters who burn tyres or block roads. <\/p>\n

Nabeel Rajab, the president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, said during last year\u2019s Formula One, \u201cWe would prefer if it they didn\u2019t take part. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am sure the drivers and teams respect human rights.\u201d <\/p>\n

He is now serving a two?year sentence for peacefully exercising his right of freedom of expression. <\/p>\n

Shockingly, Ecclestone said to journalists last Saturday, \u201cI keep asking people, \u2018What human rights?\u2019 I don\u2019t know what they are\u2026 The rights are that people who live in the country abide by the laws of the country, whatever they are.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bahrain\u2019s Crown Prince Salman Al-Khalifa refused to address the issue of systematic human rights abuses escalating during the race. <\/p>\n

He said, \u201cThis weekend is really about sport\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now the \u201csport\u201d weekend is over, but people in Bahrain continue their battle for democracy. <\/p>\n

Hundreds have been imprisoned, while major opposition figures had their citizenships stripped.<\/p>\n

We can help ordinary people in Bahrain by exposing the hypocrisy of the Western governments that back Al-Khalifa regime.<\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bahrain: Protests for democracy defy the \u2018Formula of Blood\u2019 23 April, 2013 – Socialist Worker Yusur Al Bahrani looks how the arrival of the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain has sparked off a new round of protests Thousands of outraged protesters could not stop the controversial Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain. But they 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":[2840],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17170"}],"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=17170"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17172,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17170\/revisions\/17172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}