{"id":17328,"date":"2013-05-06T13:27:37","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T19:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=17328"},"modified":"2013-05-06T13:27:37","modified_gmt":"2013-05-06T19:27:37","slug":"bahrain-regime-incapable-of-crushing-dissent-loses-pr-battle-with-its-lies-and-deceit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=17328","title":{"rendered":"Bahrain Regime incapable of Crushing Dissent, loses PR Battle with its lies and deceit"},"content":{"rendered":"

INSIGHT: Bahrain \u2013 Losing the PR War on Human Rights<\/strong>
\n2 May, 2013 – By Brian Dooley<\/p>\n

Bahrain\u2019s government seems determined to sabotage its own image. It complains that it\u2019s misunderstood and unfairly criticized, but then continues to make decisions that baffle or enrage its international allies. Foreign criticism of Bahrain\u2019s poor human rights record is increasing.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the U.S. Commission of International Religious Freedom cited \u201cincreased rhetoric from official media outlets inflaming sectarian tensions and demonizing the Shi\u2019a Muslim population,\u201d and a failure to hold any senior official to account for torture.<\/p>\n

insight hrf INSIGHT: Bahrain Losing the PR War on Human RightsThe criticism is much more detailed and sharper than in last year\u2019s report and matched the tone of the U.S. State Department country report on Bahrain two weeks ago which also revealed a growing frustration with the regime in Manama, a regime which continues to shoot itself in the foot with a series of terrible PR blunders. Last week, for example, the Bahraini government announced that United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez will not be permitted to visit Bahrain this month. Mendez\u2019s trip, scheduled for May 8-15, had been on the books since he was last refused access in early 2012. At that time, the regime made repeated promises that things would be different for Mendez\u2019s May trip.<\/p>\n

After he received notice of the cancellation, Mendez issued a statement noting, \u201cDue to the sensitivity of my mandate there will never be a perfect time for my visit, something that is true for any country that I may visit. \u2026 The Government is facing many challenges in light of the on-going tensions in Bahrain. I would have conducted my visit in the spirit of cooperation and expected the Government to share that approach; regrettably, this does not appear to be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2011, not one senior regime official has been held accountable for the widespread torture of detainees in custody.\u201d \u2013 Brian Dooley, Human Rights First<\/p>\n

Mendez\u2019s trip cancellation is certainly a shocker, even to those of us who have become accustomed to these access games. It also comes just weeks after the appointment of Bahrain\u2019s Crown Prince to the post of deputy prime minister, a development that initially read as a signal to Washington that some real reform might be about to start.
\nreu bahrain2 300 02may13 INSIGHT: Bahrain Losing the PR War on Human Rights<\/p>\n

Riot police arrest a protester during an anti-government rally in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, December 17, 2012.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that despite their repeated promises from Bahrain\u2019s leaders, not much has changed in the Kingdom. Just after the Crown Prince\u2019s appointment, he and the rest of Bahrain\u2019s cabinet endorsed proposals to introduce a five-year jail sentence for anyone convicted of insulting the king. Such moves try the patience of international allies and sympathy for the regime seems to fading fast.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the United Kingdom, Bahrain\u2019s close ally, released its 2012 annual report on human rights and democracy. It featured Bahrain\u2019s torture record, noting that impunity was a \u201cdeep-rooted problem.\u201d It also stressed that the \u201ccurrent number of officials being investigated is low, and actual convictions even lower.\u201d
\n…more
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INSIGHT: Bahrain \u2013 Losing the PR War on Human Rights 2 May, 2013 – By Brian Dooley Bahrain\u2019s government seems determined to sabotage its own image. It complains that it\u2019s misunderstood and unfairly criticized, but then continues to make decisions that baffle or enrage its international allies. Foreign criticism of Bahrain\u2019s poor human rights record 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\/17328"}],"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=17328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17329,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17328\/revisions\/17329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}