Please note that this was hastily prepared, if you want to add any info please post a comment or email me. Special thanks to Chanad for helping in providing materials and references.
Sunday, 18 February 1996 Robert Fisk wrote in the Independent “Briton at the heart of Bahrain's brutality rule” a great article describing the political situation (was not an uprising as such) back then. The article was a true reflection of torture and abuse in the Ministry of Interior led by the British mastermind Ian Henderson and his right hand Jordanian torturer Adel Fliefel. Ironically, if you change some names around, you would think that you are reading an up-to-date article from the same author about the current uprising in Bahrain. Same style of torture, blackmailing, lies and human rights violations. This is however is not the ironic part.
3 days after Mr. Fisk wrote his article, on Wednesday, 21 February 1996, the same paper (The Independent) published a Letter: Open government in Bahrain from an ex-diplomat in Bahrain describing Fisk’s article as “unbalanced”. Mostly denying the content, or the scale of the content, published days earlier. The letter was from Mr. Huge Tunnell, former British Ambassador to Bahrain, 1992-1995. When Mr. Tunnel returned to London after serving 3 years as Ambassador to Bahrain, he started up a company (consultancy)- HUGH TUNNELL ASSOCIATES LTD.. To me it was more like a Public Relations firm promoting joint ventures and promoting the Middle East for business. This is not surprising for an ex diplomat with huge influence and contacts in Bahrain, obviously with people of the same level- influential.
He, Mr. Tunnell tried to save Bahrain’s image in the west and the western media in particular, as it was of an interest to him. But most likely with the Bahraini Government help. So, just like 15 years ago, the royal family in Bahrain is using the same exact technique in paying large sums of money to western PR firms to polish their brutal crimes against the opposition. Below is a screen shot of the company register in the UK.
Mr. Tunnell sadly died of a heart attack in April 2009 so lets forget him for a bit.
However in the same note and in another letter to the Independent 2 years later Abdul Aziz Mubarak Al Khalifa, a name we are very familiar with. Wrote his views about an article that was published by Fran Abrams days earlier. Yet again desperately trying to style out the human rights violations in Bahrain arguing that the island developed, educated and respecting religious views. Letter: Bahrain views This man has been trying and failing over and over to convince the western media that Bahrain is transparent. Funny enough, he is still trying up to today. Read Nic Robertson (from the CNN) tweets on Bahrain lately. My professor once told me “one time lucky, second maybe, three times then it’s a pattern”. God bless you Prof. Leslie Gadman, I did learn something from university after all.
Moving on from this subject. The Bahraini government yet again, 15 years on, claiming that the Shia protests back in 1996 was Iranian plan to overthrow the Sunni regime.
Wednesday, 5 June 1996 an article Bahrain reveals plot for uprising by Adel Darwish for the Independent. As far as I can remember, they actually aired the suspects’ confessions on TV (Baba Apache style)
Indeed they were 44 and I found this article online- The Deseret News - Jun 6, 1996. Plotting to topple the regime. Why are we seeing all this similarities over and over as if it is happening today? The reason is, those alKhalifa never learn, Bedouin, do not understand. They think the world will still believe their lies. Or maybe they just need a new mastermind like Henderson to start fresh seeing as though that PR all around the world failed.
Don’t forget that back then; there was Sunni opposition as well who had their share of torture and imprisonment. Fisk report “
Ahmed al-Shamlan, the Bahraini lawyer and poet re-arrested by Henderson's men this month, is largely regarded as a supporter of this coalition, whose nationalist, secular credentials have spared it neither deportation nor harassment.” Today we have Ibrahim Sharif, Mohammed al-Buflasah and many others. The below article is about the 58 “Shia” who planned to topple the regime.
Update: Thanks to vAT017. The Government threw their old, or shall I say the renewable card. "Loyalty" Look at this copy of Al-Ayam newspaper with this huge headline shortly after the "confessions" on TV. They are still doing it today.
I still remember how I received Isa Qambar execution news from my older brother, he walked after prayer, very quite, very sad and whispered something in my mother’s ear (she was praying). She prayed for him first and then broke down in tears and told us while she was sobbing. I didn’t know why he was executed, there was a story that he burnt a police vehicle with Molotov bomb and killed a policeman, other story that he burnt a shop and killed the Asian shopkeeper and another story he bombed an electricity station in Sitra. The same exact story is happening now. We saw one man Martyr Ali Sager confessing that he ran over a police man, but when? After he was tortured to death, he was not viable for the regime so they framed five other people instead. How many people does it take to run over 1 person? At least back in the 90s they only framed one person. (Associated Press) reported it.
This is another piece of news on Isa Qambar execution from Daily News - Mar 26, 1996.
Robert Fisk continues his investigations and publishes another article on
Monday, 19 February 1996 Prince's police strike terror into opposition On the same note, and just as history repeats itself, back in 1995 Saeid al-Eskafi died under torture in
Al-Khamees police station in June 6. He was 16 years old. Not long ago, January 4, Hussain Qambar died in police custody as well. 16 other reported being sexually assaulted in while in prison. Today we are witnessing an identical situation. Martyr Abdul Karem Fakhrawi and Martyr Ali Sager died under the same circumstances; torture signs were clearly visible on their bodies when their families received them. Their families received the same threats of not exposing their bodies to anyone and not to mention their death to the media, or else.
The oppressive regime had supporters, mostly bribed with money and promises of lands, positions etc. However the Bahraini people had supporters who stood against the oppressors back then and spoke out. In the media we had Mr. Fisk, who by the way, is being sued along with his newspaper (The Independent) by the Bahraini Government for “biased coverage”- Government words, not mine. I found this matter quite hilarious. How tedious can you be to sue a newspaper for simply reporting what they witnessed? Fisk met the exiled opposition leaders in Damascus and wrote on
Saturday, 17 February 1996 Bahraini exiles tell of torture and abuse they should have probably sued him then. This article had even more sickening stories than what we hear today. Read what Sayed Hisham al-Moussawi told him about his arrests. He was tortured, molested and they beat his wife in front of him! How terrible. By the same people, British Ian Henderson, Jordanian Adel Flifel, Jordanian al-Akori and Pakistani Aziz Sugager. Mercenaries. He mentioned the government imprisoning him in the 80s for the same reason they imprison people now- connection with Iran.
Another supporter was within the British Government, George Galloway MP. Spoke in the Houses of Parliament in great details on June 3, 1997 he said one of the best sentences I have ever heard about about Bahrain “Bahrain became the first country in the world to deport its own citizens and demand that other countries refuse to give them asylum.” Referring to both Sheikhs Hamza al-Dairi and Sayed Haidar al-Sitri when they arrived in London. Galloway speech in the parliament in 1997 Like father like son. King Hamad and his government have asked Kuwait to deny Bahrianis employment if they arrive there. Mr. Galloway is still a supporters of the uprising in Bahrain have participated in rallies and demonstration in front of the Bahraini and the Saudi embassies in London.
Reading the news from the 90s doesn’t bring memories; it is rather the same as reading the news today. Look at the same exact similarities:
- Government claiming Iranian intervention in Bahrain’s security.
- Televised false confessions from respected and well known personalities
- Torture and human rights violation
- Executions for killing a policeman
- The use of failed PR to preserve the “business friendly” image of Bahrain
The only difference now is that we have the Internet and news travel so much easier, which consequently makes it easier for us to expose the regime’s lies to the world.
I just wonder, if Fisk and the Independent are the enemies of the state now, how long till the Bahraini government starts to sue Nick Kristoff and the New York Times. They might even go beyond and sue The Associated Press, Reuters and every single media source that doesn’t write what they want to read!
