Bahrain: chequered flag

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/19/bahrain-formula-one-protests

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Formula One's grand prix in Bahrain has backfired before it has even begun. If the Bahraini authorities wanted to use the race as a symbol of business as usual after their crackdown on anti-government protesters last year, they are in for a disappointment. The race has become a magnet for protest, a magnifying glass of dissent bubbling away below the surface. "Don't race over our blood," the slogan goes in Manama, but that is what Formula One teams propose to do today.

John Yates, the former assistant commissioner of the Met employed by the Bahrain government to advise on police reform, should hang his head in shame for saying that protesters were not being abused by the police, because if they were they would be on YouTube. If Mr Yates had spoken to the Human Rights Watch team gathering evidence of the latest cases of abuse, he would have learned that the beatings have not stopped. They have merely changed venue from police stations, where CCTV has been installed in interrogation rooms, to the parking lot on the way. The beatings in police jeeps can last from two minutes to two hours, and the latest case recorded by HRW took place two days ago. Had he inquired, Mr Yates might have got a similar answer from Amnesty too, who wrote in a report this week that human rights violations continued unabated.

A regime that always was more interested in appearance rather than substance had other tricks up its sleeve. They set up an independent commission of inquiry (BICI), headed by the Egyptian-American jurist Cherif Bassiouni. It concluded that dozens of detainees had been tortured by security officials, and that police had repeatedly used unnecessary and excessive force, resulting in unlawful killings. The BICI made important recommendations and there have been institutional improvements like the establishment of a special investigations unit in the public prosecution office. But if this is reform, it tinkers around the edges. The prosecutor is investigating cases against 50 officers, and pursuing 10. Of those, six are Pakistani and Yemeni – in other words non- Bahraini – and all are in the lower ranks.

The game changer would be the release of prisoners, including 21 activists. That is not going to happen anytime soon. Britain and America make clucking noises but are just as cynical as the Bahraini royal family itself. Strategic alliances trump human rights. What is the difference between Bahrain and Syria? In two words, Saudi Arabia, which sees the trouble on its doorstep as its own Cuba. Nor is al-Jazeera, under new direction, interested in Bahrain. They are not being broadcast all over the Arab world, but Bahrain's deep problems are still there. And they will not be drowned out by the roar of engines today.