More US Arms to Bahrain as Authorities Keep Crack Down

Local Editor

Despite the Bahraini regimes' continuous brutal crackdown against civilians, Washington has resumed military aid to the kingdom. The move was criticized by human rights groups, which say it takes place "in the absence of any real or meaningful political reforms" and amid numerous human rights abuses.

"The administration has decided to lift the holds on security assistance to the Bahrain Defense Force and National Guard that were implemented following Bahrain's crackdown on demonstrations in 2011," the US State Department's John Kirby said in a statement.

He claimed that the Bahraini government has made "some meaningful progress on human rights reforms and reconciliation."

The restoration of military aid to Bahrain comes two weeks after a court sentenced the opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman to four years in prison.

The 49-year-old was the secretary-general of the al-Wefaq opposition group when he was arrested in late December.

Bahrain has been accused by human rights groups for brutally clamping down on protesters, with the government in Manama using harsh laws to prosecute human rights activists.

The government also repeatedly persecuted Nabeel Rajab, the world-renown human rights activist and president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights [BCHR]. The authorities arrested him in January for a "tweet." In a tweet posted in September, he suggested that Bahraini security institutions could act as an "ideological incubator" for terrorism and "ISIL" militants.

The US decision to resume sending weapons was met with criticism from human rights groups.

"There is no way to dress this up as a good move," Brian Dooley from Human Rights First, adding that "it's bad for Bahrain, bad for the region and bad for the United States."

According to Sarah Margon, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, "the Obama administration's decision to lift restrictions on security assistance to Bahrain's Defense Forces and National Guard is occurring in the absence of any real or meaningful political reform."

"Bahrain's jails are bursting at the seams with political detainees, and the recent prison sentence for political opposition leader al-Wefaq Secretary-General Sheikh Ali Salman means that a political accommodation remains as far away as ever," she added.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team