Saturday, January 18, 2014

Royal Stamp of Approval

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were called in to assist the Bahraini regime in its crackdown on the peaceful protests. Scores of people have been killed in the crackdown. Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or have disappeared because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police” in the crackdown. A report issued by a Bahraini human rights body says the country saw 745 protests in just December alone. The government’s reaction to dissent, according to the study, included arrests of 31 children, home raids and enforced disappearances. Crack-downs on protests were accompanied by arrests, with 183 rally participants ending up behind bars, including 31 children. In the village of Sanabis, about 5.5 kilometers  west of the capital, security forces reportedly fired tear gas canisters inside the houses of some of the protesters.

 But it doesn’t stop the British from doing business and having a member of the Royal Personage as its sales-man.

Prince Andrew joined the government in celebrating GREAT British Week in Bahrain will run from 15-22 January in conjunction with the third Bahrain International Air Show. Organisers say that the events will be attended by a 250 strong British trade delegation; including representatives from the UK government and a number of major arms companies, including Rolls Royce (Aero) and BAE Systems, who will be promoting sales of its Typhoon fighter jets. The Duke of York presented an Honorary OBE to  Khalid Al Zayani, Chairman of the Bahrain British Business Forum and Chairman of the GREAT British Week Steering Group.

Since the Arab Spring began in 2011, the UK government has approved over £30 million worth of arms export licences to Bahrain. The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said: Both the government and the opposition in Bahrain view UK defence sales as a signal of British support for the government.

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