Finally, some Western media attention to the appalling persecution of pro-democracy Bahraini petitioners. They're threatened with life in jail after seeking greater authority for the country's elected parliament - a body forced to share power with the King's hand-picked assembly. An estimated 20 petitioners are still imprisoned, and now, Human Rights Watch is sounding the trumpets.

This blatant suppression of freedom of speech and association flies in the face of the government’s proclaimed commitment to democratic change. The right to petition peacefully is fundamental, and this petition addresses an issue that lies at the heart of democratic reforms.

Given the HRW hook, Rueters is getting into the act. Good for them. More big media should follow, especially given the vague, weak reporting on the matter by Bahrain's timid newspapers. (Three blogs to track are to the right on my blogroll, under "Bahrain").

I've said it before (in the lively comment string appended to this post) and I'll say it again: just because the petitoners are Shi'a doesn't mean they're woman-hating monsters - as two other commenters claim, in the string. In fact, I wonder if democratic reforms might not up the ante for treatment of women in Bahrain. Things sound pretty crappy for them at present, as this post from the leading Bahraini blogger Mahmood shows. It's a commentary about a sexual harasser/member of parliament getting off easy at trial because he had "immunity," and Mahmood is rightly surprised the piece slipped in to the normally flaccid Gulf Daily News.

All told, if Bahrain's stated aspirations to modernity and democracy are more than a public relations sheen for foreign investors, they've got to grant social justice to women; let the 20 prisoners out; and begin the reform process in earnest.

Here's Human Rights Watch again, with some background on the jailed petitioners and suggested first steps for political reform (italics mine).

Bahrain does not permit political parties, but the government has tolerated limited political activities by several 'societies.' Four of these, including Al-Wifaq, which has a substantial following among the country’s majority Shi`a population, began the petition effort as part of a campaign to modify the constitution issued by royal decree in February 2002. Under the constitution, limited legislative authority is shared by an elected national assembly and an appointed consultative council of 40 members each.

Political liberalization efforts have not included reform of numerous laws restricting basic political freedoms. The government has threatened 'legal action' against the offending societies—and now the Bahrain Center for Human Rights—on the grounds that they have violated the restrictive 1989 decree governing associations. Those arrested reportedly face charges of instigating hostility to the government, publishing false information and violating the prohibition against gatherings of five or more persons without authorization.

The government’s response to the peaceful efforts of citizens to petition their government highlights the pressing need to reform the old decrees that were issued precisely to suppress any exercise of basic civil and political rights.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 18, 2004 09:47 AM

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