U.S. Puts Ally Bahrain on List With Human Rights Violators Iran, Syria

The United States has put Bahrain, a Persian Gulf ally, in the company of Iran, North Korea, Syria and Zimbabwe on its list of human rights violators to be scrutinized by the UN Human Rights Council.“The Bahraini government has arbitrarily detained workers and others perceived as opponents,” U.S. Ambassador Eileen Donohoe said in a statement to the council yesterday in Geneva. “The United States is deeply concerned about violent repression of the fundamental freedoms of association, expression, religion and speech of their citizens.”Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has tried to crush protests that have wracked the country since February, as the Shiite majority population has agitated for the Sunni Muslim monarchy to allow greater economic opportunities and freedoms.

Bahrain’s crackdown has put the United States in the position of speaking out against a country that is both a close ally and which received security assistance from Saudi Arabia in putting down the protests.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has repeatedly called on Bahrain to exercise restraint amid reports that it has detained doctors for treating injured protesters. President Barack Obama welcomed Bahrain’s crown prince last week and praised news that the country will lift the martial law declared in March.The Bahraini government’s recent moves to lift some restrictions and to launch a national dialogue on reforms are “signs of hope,” Donahoe said.Donohoe’s statement also listed Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe for council attention because of human rights abuses.

Official in Bahrain

Donohoe delivered the statement in Geneva on the same day that Michael Posner, the State Department’s chief human rights representative, spoke about human rights in the Bahraini capitol after meeting with government officials. He expressed concern about protesters detained by security forces there.“We continue to receive reports about some students being expelled from universities and some workers being dismissed merely because they have exercised their political rights,” Posner said. “We remain concerned about the continued detention of a number of Bahrainis who have neither been charged nor tried, about the treatment of those people in detention, and about reports that some have been subjected to physical abuse during interrogations.”The Bahraini embassy in Washington, reached by telephone, had no immediate comment.

Blaming Iran

Bahrain, a nation of 1.2 million, and neighboring Saudi Arabia, also a Sunni monarchy, have portrayed the protests as provoked by predominately Shiite Iran to destabilize the country. Bahrain asked Saudi Arabia to send in troops to help them stop the protests.

About 70 percent of Bahrainis are Shiite Muslims who claim they face routine discrimination over housing and jobs, and aren’t permitted to rise to top jobs in government or the military.The State Department’s 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices noted Bahrain’s response to the protests, which included widespread arrests.Among the other countries cited by Donahoe, China was noted for the “growing number of arrests and detentions of lawyers, activists, bloggers, artists, religious believers, and their families, and its use of extralegal measures undermine the rule of law.”For Iran, “we condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing of Iranian activist Haleh Sahabi at her father’s funeral,” she said.

Political Prisoners

Burma holds over 2,000 political prisoners and routinely violates the rights of its citizens including ethnic minority populations, according to the U.S. statement.North Korea’s government “continues to violate the human rights of its citizens and that regime’s treatment of its own people is deplorable,” Donahoe said.

“The Syrian government continues to repress the legitimate demands of their people through killings, torture, and arbitrary arrests,” she said.In Libya, she said, Muammar Qadhafi’s regime “has launched airstrikes on civilians, violently repressed demonstrations, tortured prisoners, and targeted perceived opponents and journalists, resulting in hundreds of deaths and disappearances.”“In Yemen, hundreds of people have died and over 8,000 wounded in clashes with security forces and opposing factions in the past three months,” she said. “There are credible allegations that the government funded supporters who harassed and beat anti-government protesters.”