Bahrain tortured my family and many others – Britain’s loyalty to it speaks volumes

Boris Johnson may see it as a pliant and reliable base from which to project British political and economic influence abroad, but failing to condemn the country’s abuses is despicable, writes Sayed Alwadaei

‘Soldiers fired live ammunition indiscriminately into crowds and emergency doctors were jailed as traitors for treating injured protesters’ (EPA)

Nine years ago last month, the winds of the Arab Spring finally reached the Arabian peninsula, engulfing the tiny island of Bahrain in a sea of optimistic faces wrapped in the red and white national flag. Generations of Bahrainis had dreamed of living in a free country and as hundreds of thousands peacefully descended on Manama’s Pearl Roundabout, it seemed to finally be within reach.

However, what began as a dream quickly became a nightmare. Sensing their authority crumbling, Bahrain’s desperate despots called for aid. Just weeks after the protests began, troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia were invited in to crush the fledgling revolution.

The invasion was brutal. Soldiers fired live ammunition indiscriminately into crowds and emergency doctors were jailed as traitors for treating injured protesters. Thousands of civilians found themselves arrested, tortured and carted before military tribunals on a range of spurious charges. I myself was sentenced to six months for giving an interview about police violence; a deep scar on my forehead is a daily reminder of the torture I was subjected to.

The Arab Spring was initially greeted with enthusiasm by then prime minister David Cameron, who lauded a “massive opportunity” to spread peace, prosperity and democracy in the Middle East. But Bahrain sits in the middle of one of the world’s most important oil routes and is a vital strategic ally, so as British-made tear gas choked the streets of Manama, the UK government remained conspicuously silent.

Since then, the UK government has quietly helped the Bahraini regime launder its international image. Keen to maintain geopolitical influence in the Arabian Gulf, Britain has poured millions into Bahrain’s illusory “reform process” and shielded her ally from international criticism.

Indeed, while Bahrain’s rulers have abandoned any pretence of democracy, successive British government’s have heaped praise on the regime, in stark contrast to the alarm raised by international human rights watchdogs and the United Nations.

When Bahrain’s government suspended the free press, banned opposition parties and jailed their leadership, the Foreign Office continued to praise their “commitment to the democratic process”.

When UK-funded human rights investigatory bodies were alleged to have concealed torture allegations, including those raised by my own imprisoned mother-in-law, the Foreign Office continued to encourage victims to report abuses to them, stressing they are “genuinely independent” and “making a difference to the administration of justice in Bahrain”.

And just weeks ago, when challenged on a UN report that found that a new Bahraini law on non-custodial sentencing developed with British assistance was discriminating against political prisoners – including Nabeel Rajab, Bahrain’s foremost human rights defender – the Foreign Office welcomed “this positive move in reforming the justice system”.

It is easy to understand why the British government is so hesitant to publicly condemn Bahrain’s abuses, as a chapter in the Bahrain Institute for Democracy and Human Rights’ (BIRD) recent annual report explores. The ruling classes from both nations have been entangled for over two centuries and friendships exist between the Bahraini and British royal families.

Bahrain is a major purchaser of British arms and has long provided lucrative employment opportunities for both British Army generals and Conservative politicians approaching retirement age, particularly in the shady world of political consultancy.

But above all, Bahrain represents a pliant and reliable base from which to project British political and economic influence abroad, particularly as the UK attempts to carve a place for itself outside the European Union. This ambition was bolstered further when King Hamad contributed funds towards the £40m British naval base on the island, consolidating Britain’s military presence in the Arabian Sea and beyond.

While he was still foreign secretary, Boris Johnson spoke in Bahrain at the 2016 IISS Manama Dialogue, a biennial conference organised by a think tank funded by the Bahraini state. In a speech steeped in colonial nostalgia, Johnson lamented Britain’s 1968 disengagement East of Suez as “a mistake”, urging the UK to “seize the opportunities of leaving the EU” by expanding the UK’s “extraordinary commercial relationships” in the Gulf. Tellingly, Johnson failed to mention the savage repression of the Bahraini people.

Already, the government’s embrace of their Gulf allies has reaped disturbing results. Earlier this month, it emerged that the University of Huddersfield, a publicly-funded institution, has been training officers at Bahrain’s Royal Academy of Policing, an institution which has been linked to the systematic torture of political prisoners, including members of my own family.

When we challenged the university, they responded by claiming that “the delivery of this course is closely aligned to the mission advocated by the UK Government’s Department of International Trade,” which aims to support reform in Bahrain “while protecting our significant defence and security interests and enhancing our bilateral relationships”. Sadly, with a prime minister who displays increasing contempt for human rights, this pursuit of profit over principles seems likely to continue.

With the unquestioning support of the UK government, the repression which crushed the 2011 uprising has become institutionalised in Bahrain. However, while the resistance appears subdued, the Bahraini regime remains terrified of its populace. The monument that once stood at Pearl Roundabout was hastily demolished in the wake of the 2011 protests, yet police remain stationed at the site, such is the government’s fear that Bahrainis will once again return to demand democracy.

On the eve of the nineth anniversary, Bahrainis protested in towns and villages across the country, to which the government responded by firing tear gas into houses and arresting several children. In the face of oppression, the Bahraini people remain defiant.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei is the advocacy director of the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (BIRD)