Alwaght-The British government has supplied the repressive Bahraini regime with over $65 million worth of weaponry since the beginning of the popular uprising against the ruling monarchy five year ago.
According to a report by the Independent newspaper on Sunday, Britain has drawn even closer to Bahrain, despite years of crackdowns, torture and oppression in the Persian Gulf state.
On the fifth anniversary of uprisings in the kingdom, activists in Britain held several events last week to remember victims of the brutal crackdown during the Islamic Uprising of 2011 that led to dozens of deaths and thousands of people being imprisoned.
According to human rights campaigners, British arms sales to Bahrain have increased significantly over the past five years, while in the background abuse claims have continued. Between February 2011 and September 2015, Britain has done deals with Bahrain worth £45m, covering arms such as machine guns, assault rifles and anti-armor ammunition, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) organization. The total for the three years prior to the uprising was £6m.
Saudi Arabia also sent UK-supplied armored vehicles to Bahrain to safeguard infrastructure, allowing the Bahraini monarchy violently to repress the pro-democracy opposition movement.
Meanwhile in 2014, Britain agreed to open a naval base in Bahrain as a result of a defense agreement. Construction began last November, with Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, celebrating the deal in a photocall with the Bahraini foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa.
“Despite the crackdown and the repression, the British government has put arms sales ahead of human rights,” CAAT’s Andrew Smith said. “It has spent the past five years cozying up to the Bahraini authorities and providing cover for their abuses.
Since February 14 2011, multitudes of protesters opposed to the brutal Bahraini regime have held numerous peaceful rallies in the streets of the island kingdom, demanding their inalienable human rights. The demonstrators gradually demanded the al-Khalifa family to relinquish power.
In response, the regime has dealt with peaceful protesters with a heavy-handed crackdown, killing scores of people, injuring and arresting many more. The regime is also abusing the law by withdrawing citizenship of opposition activists.
