UK ignores own law to support Manama regime: Pundit

Press TV has conducted an interview with activist and Islamic scholar from Leicester Shabbir Hassanaly and political analyst from Beirut Jihad Mouracadeh to discuss the UK’s involvement in training Bahraini security forces which are under fire for employing heavy-handed tactics to suppress the opposition.

The supply of weapons to a regime like the Al Khalifa is contrary to the British law. But the government in London justifies the training of Bahraini forces and supplying of arms to Manama to get rid of the challenge of public opinion, Hassanaly told Press TV’s program The Debate on Sunday.

Under a confidential agreement in 2015 obtained by The Observer, the UK’s College of Policing agreed to train forces of Bahrain’s Interior Ministry, while it blacklisted the Manama regime for human rights violations. 

He said the definition of human rights abuse in the West depends on who is being addressed as human being, adding that Western powers do not classify the people of Bahrain, Palestine, Syria and Saudi Arabia as humans. "Thus, the supporters of the Al Khalifa regime do not think they are violating human rights regulations."

The Bahraini regime is in war with its own people and treats its citizens as “an enemy army;” therefore, the Al Khalifa regime uses the Western tactics and supplied weapons against protestors, he added.

Hassanaly further noted that the Bahraini opposition is not being funded or supplied by foreign parties. Rather, the movement comes from only the people of Bahrain and there is no evidence to suggest that that the opposition has received any weapons or training from the outside world, he explained.

According to the activist, the subjugation of indigenous Bahraini people has prompted them to choose the way of resistance and protest to show their resentment of the way of governance in their own country.

However, the other guest attending The Debate program argued that Bahraini government forces do not violate human rights Rather, he believes, the protestors who try to overthrow the local government should be blamed for the situation in the tiny Persian Gulf country.

He also accused the people opposing the Bahraini government of being supported by foreign forces and supplied by foreign weapons.

Anti-regime protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis since February 14, 2011, calling on the Al Khalifah regime to relinquish power.

Troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to the country in March of the same year to assist the Manama government to crush pro-democracy rallies.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in Manama’s crackdown on anti-regime activists.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk