Saudi Arabia will not allow calm in Bahrain: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Masoud Shadjareh, a London-based co-founder of Islamic Human Rights Commission, to discuss the Bahraini regime’s arrest of four American journalists.

A rough transcription of the interview follows.

Press TV: Now before I get to the anniversary of this uprising in Bahrain, I want to touch on the subject of the arrest of these US journalists. What do you make of it? Is this basically yet another example of what the regime in Bahrain stands for?

Shadjareh: Well, the regime in Bahrain has shown very clearly that it is capable of many atrocities and abuse of human rights. I mean, over the last few years, we have actually seen [them] systematically abusing human rights of not just Bahrainis but those who have come to support the Bahraini uprising and those who are being systematically oppressed.

But I think what really this situation exposes is the United States and the West. Yet again, governments like the US, who are continuously claiming that they are champions of human rights and are champions of upholding the rights of their citizens no matter what, actually show that when it comes to their interests, they are actually willing to sacrifice their own citizens, their own so-called principles and undermine the democracy, human rights, etc, just to pump up these dictatorships in the [Persian] Gulf region and promote them.

The reality is that there is no way that Bahrainis are ever going to see democracy as long as the US is continuously supporting not just Bahrain, but Saudi Arabia, which actually is the reason that those neighboring countries are not allowed to have any form of democracy, because they are scared of democracy, they don’t want it to come to the region, because if people are in power, they are definitely going to speak out and they need to act, they will act against the US interests, which has enslaved them for many generations just because of the oil and the fact that the US and the West want to use and abuse these regions and to extract their resources for their benefit rather than the benefit of the citizens.

Press TV: Indeed. Now where does that leave this popular uprising that began five years ago? Because we have just heard the opposition parties pledging to continue with the fights through all peaceful means available. Now, they have also called for dialogue between the government and the opposition parties, but I’m curious to know your thoughts on that because let’s not forget most Bahraini political opposition leaders are either in jail or in exile.

Shadjareh: Absolutely. I mean they are in jail or exiled and indeed all Bahrainis live under such an authoritarian regime of not just their country, but indeed under the occupation of the Saudis; and the West is doing nothing whatsoever. I mean not only they are not putting any pressure but day by day they are actually increasing their relationship with the Bahraini government, i.e. the British government has now sort of signed contracts to actually have a military base in Bahrain, one of the biggest.

So the reality is that the sacrifice of the human rights and the right of the Bahraini nation is very clear and I just don’t see that the Bahraini government is in any position to actually have any sort of deal with the nation and the reality is that, as I said, Saudi Arabia will not allow it, because Saudi Arabia does not accept or allow any of the neighboring nations to have any sign of democracy because they are scared of democracy, they are scared of [people’s] empowerment.

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