Bahrain removed from the list of “human rights” after promising to invest in the UK.
Members of the British Parliament said that the government of this country has removed the name of this country located in West Asia from the list of countries with problems in the field of “human rights” after Bahrain’s promise to invest 1 billion pounds in England.
Members of the British Parliament have demanded an explanation from the government of this country about removing the name of Bahrain from the list of countries whose “human rights” issues are a priority.
According to the Middle East Eye website, the British government’s decision has been revealed in a new report called “Records of Human Rights and Democracy” published this Friday. This is the first time since 2015 that Bahrain is removed from this list.
In this report, the British government praised “Bahrain’s long-standing tradition of respecting and strengthening religious freedoms.” Despite this, London criticized Bahrain’s parliamentary elections last year.
This claim was made while Human Rights Watch announced in a report about two weeks ago that “Bahrain authorities prevented prayers in the largest Shiite mosque in Bahrain.”
Two weeks ago, Al-Mayadin Juma base reported that the Bahraini authorities have prevented Friday prayers from being held at Imam Sadiq Mosque, which is located in the Al-Draz area and is the main place of Friday prayers for Bahraini Shiites.
In that report, Human Rights Watch pointed out the restrictions on people’s access to this mosque and announced that the Bahraini authorities briefly detained Sheikh Muhammad Sanqour, a prominent religious scholar who often gave sermons in this mosque.
Middle East Eye asked the British Foreign Ministry on what criteria London’s decision was adopted. A spokesman for the ministry said: “The decision to remove Bahrain’s name from the list of priority countries for human rights proceedings reflects their continued progress in this area over the last few years, which the UK has directly supported.”
He added: “The UK is committed to supporting reforms in Bahrain through our programs and encouraging governments to fulfill their human rights obligations.”
MPs and human rights groups say they want to know exactly how London made the decision, criticizing the fact that it came just days after Manama promised to invest £1 billion in the UK.
“I am deeply concerned that the Foreign Office has put human rights up for auction,” said Labor MP Chris Bryant, who is a member of the British Parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
This member of the British parliament also asked James Cleverley, the British foreign minister, to explain about this decision. “Bahrain’s death row is full of people who have been forced to sign false confessions of crimes they did not commit, simply because they had the courage to demand reform,” he said.
Conservative MP Sir Peter Bottomley said it was “difficult to understand” the decision given that torture victims, including Mohammed Ramadan and Hussain Ali Musa, were on death row.
The British government has also been criticized in recent years for providing millions of taxpayers’ money to Bahrain through a program called the Gulf Strategy Fund. Members of the British Parliament have repeatedly criticized this fund for its non-transparent management.
Seyyed Ahmed Al-Wodaei, a human rights activist, said that the removal of Bahrain from the list of countries whose human rights issues are a priority is consistent with the British government’s previous practices.
He said: “The British government has a history of using misleading human rights reports to whitewash Bahrain’s human rights record.”
He added: “They have now taken the step beyond this and in exchange for investing in the British economy, they have removed Bahrain from the list of countries with human rights priority.”
