After a long and anxious countdown, the day of reckoning is finally here. Called Tamarrud Day or the day of rebellion by the Bahraini youth in honour of the Tamarrud Movement in Egypt which saw the fall of Morsi. Bahrain has been bracing itself for the biggest protest of the year.
Why August 14th? August 14th marks the country’s independence from Great Britain. Instead of celebrating one of the most important events in Bahraini history, the masses have chosen the very same day to take to the streets to fight for their rights.
Maryam al-Khawaja, a prominent human rights activist and acting president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights was denied permission to board a British Airways flight from Copenhagen to Manama ahead of the protests at the request of the Bahrain government.
Said Yousif al Muhafda of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights stated that, “Everyone’s talking about the date, waiting for it. I’m expecting large protests throughout the country – not just in the villages but in the capital Manama too.”
In the weeks prior to the protests, King Hamid al-Khalifa had issued decrees banning peaceful protests as well as implementing measures to crackdown on sit-in protests in the capital and to have the citizenship of anyone found guilty of “committing or inciting an act of terrorism” stripped. He also approved for the prosecution of parents of children aged under 16 who participate in demonstrations. The government has also imposed tight security ahead of the protests.
Following the utter failure of the so-called national dialogue, there has been nil progress in regards to the fate of those imprisoned for thought crime and the continued imprisonment of the ‘Bahrain 13.’ Nabeel Rajab, the head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights was imprisoned 2 years ago as well as Zainab al Khawaja. Blogger Mohammad Hassan Sayef was also arrested before the protests.
Al-Wefaq, Bahrain’s largest opposition group has announced that it will not be officially joining the protest but it supported the people’s right to peaceful demonstrations. According to Sheikh Ali Salman the leader of al-Wefaq, “From what I have been hearing around, I know that it is going to be a peaceful movement but having said that I also expect clashes between the government forces and the protesters, because they are against all protests and demonstrations. I only pray that there are no victims.”
The UK’s Foreign Office claims to ‘oppose tyranny and hold repressive regimes to account’. Respect for human rights is said to be ‘a consistent theme that runs through Britain’s foreign policy’. It is ‘something on which we will not compromise’. Yet David Cameron invited King Hamid to discuss a £1 billion deal to sell Bahrain Typhoon fighters.
A conference was held in the House of Lords today calling on the British government to change its stance on Bahrain.
The vast demonstrations that were anticipated in Bahrain this month never materialised. Instead there has been a ratcheting up of violent action. Things do not bode well on that basis alone:
