Keen to hear the Irish Governments reaction to the arrest of
Khalil Al Marzooq two weeks ago in Bahrain, when he was accused of inciting
terrorism and violence and supposedly supporting a terror cell? He was remanded
in custody for 30 days while the case is built against him.
This is a man who
is internationally known and respected for his outspokenness for civil rights
and as an advocate for peaceful democratic reform, and his party, AlWefaq, is a
signatory of the Non Violent Treaty.
Al Marzooq is a prominent former Deputy Speaker of
Parliament and member of the Council of Representatives and served as first deputy
chairman. He resigned from his seat in Parliament, along with 17 other members
of Al Wefaq, in protest following the government crackdown in 2011. Subsequently he led
negotiations with the government in the Bahrain National Dialogue; however the
opposition has recently withdrawn in dismay from these sham negotiations, which
the Government are lauding internationally, while they have now arrested the second
most important figure in the opposition party who is a key figure in that same
dialogue. This is a clear indication of their attitude to the peace talks.
The Bahraini Authorities are also filing a law suit against the Shia Council,
the main religious body for the Shia majority in the country, and trying to
shut it down in an extreme act of sectarianism, this against the back drop of
the plans for the Arab Human Rights Court to be based in Manama.
We are approaching the 2nd anniversary of the
BICI Report which was lauded by the International Community as ground breaking, however nothing has
been properly implemented and it has been proven as another cosmetic ruse. Case in point is
the mass sentencing on Sunday of 95 civilians to between 3-15 years, including women
and children. A shocking 808 year
combined total and with these charges allegedly fabricated through coerced confessions under torture.
In this instance the same judges were used during the
military courts which were criticised by the BICI and yet the current court systems
uses these same judges and kangaroo system.
Evidently the authorities are stepping up and escalating their
repression in a bid to wipe out all
opposition voices and figures. What is Ireland doing to address this or to use the
Irish Experience to help the Regime understand that peaceful dialogue is the
only way for peaceful reconciliation? We achieved a chair on the Human Rights
Council at the same time as them, surelythere's a burden of responsibility to have more than a quiet word?
As Obama said in 2011, there can be no proper dialogue until
those who should be involved in it are released
from prison. We call on the Bahraini
Authorities to end the rampant and brutal violations against the people and replace
the negative atmosphere in the country with some clear commitment to progress
by releasing the pro reform demonstrators and opposition figures.
