Bahrain: Sustained Opposition to Arms Sale
\nNovember 15, 2011 – POMED<\/p>\n
In a Washington Post \u201dLetter to the Editor,\u201d Sanjeev Bery, advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, writes that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton \u201cwas quick to repeat the Bahraini government\u2019s assurance that it will hold accountable \u201cthose who cross lines in responding to civil unrest\u201d during her recent speech at the National Democratic Institute. Meanwhile, Bery points out that \u201cno one in the Bahraini government has been prosecuted for the many shooting deaths of protesters, and no one is being held accountable for countless allegations of torture. While an investigation is underway, the real question is whether there will be accountability for those who pulled the trigger \u2014 and for those who may have given the orders to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
A report entitled \u201cAccessory to Murder? US Weapons in Bahrain and the Coming Arms Sale\u201d examines visual footage of what author Bill Marczak claims are American weapons being used in the February crackdown by the Bahrain Defense Forces (BDF). Marczak offers suggestions for the U.S. government, the policy community, and the general public, including encouraging the Department of Defense to pursue an End-Use Monitoring (EUM) investigation into supplies sold by the U.S. to Bahrain. He also suggests that if the BICI report does not \u201cadequately address\u201d the topic of the BDF\u2019s suppression of protests, the State Department should carry out its own investigation. Lastly, U.S. citizens should encourage their representatives to sign onto H.J. Res. 80 and S.J.Res. 28, joint resolutions in the House and Senate that limit a proposed arms sale to Bahrain. …source<\/a><\/p>\n