The Al-Khalifa regime is pursuing a policy of repression and hoping for US-Zionist-Saudi-backed support in an attempt to maintain its sovereignty in Bahrain, thus only accelerating its downward slope.
The name of the Al Khalifa regime, which has ruled Bahrain since 1975, has always been cited as one of the biggest human rights violators alongside Saudi Arabia, and the common denominator of the two regimes is the severe repression of Shiites in their countries.
According to the tribal logic of the political system in Bahrain, as well as the facts and statistics, the Shiite citizens, who are one of the main components of Bahraini society, have been subjected to systematic discrimination and deprivation by the Al Khalifa regime.
In fact, the situation of discrimination in Bahrain is the opposite of other countries. Discrimination and exclusion policies and practices in all countries are usually applied to minorities. But discrimination against Shiites in Bahrain comes at a time when more than 75 percent of the country’s population is made up of Shiites.
Deteriorating economic situation of Bahrain Shiites
Unemployment has been a major cause of unrest since the 1990s, especially among Bahrain’s Shiite youth. Official statistics put the unemployment rate at 15%; While the real statistics, especially among the Shiites, are much higher than this. Despite the lack of clear statistics on the number of unemployed Shiites, many believe that in the next decade, if no political action is taken to reform the labor market, Shiites will have the biggest problem in this regard. Unemployment problems have severely affected the situation of Shiites, the most important of which is declining employment and low wages. In poor villages, which are mostly populated by Shiites, economic and social problems, such as unemployment and poverty, and even health problems are on the rise. In such a way that the poor Shiite villages are turned into marginal ruins and its inhabitants are forced to leave their homes.
The political position of the Shiites in the Al-Khalifa system
Out of 572 general and high positions, only 101 positions, ie 18%, and out of 47 high positions as minister and general manager, only 10 positions, ie 21%, belong to Shiites. Shiites in this system can never hold high government positions such as the Ministry of Defense, Foreign Affairs, Justice and the Interior.
Although Shiites make up the majority of Bahrain’s population, they have a small cabinet presence and are ruled by a Sunni minority. They are increasingly marginalized politically and socially disadvantaged. In recent years, Shiites have been repressed whenever they have tried to break the shell of a discriminatory government through legitimate, peaceful and democratic means.
After the events of February 2011, the Bahraini government distorted the faces of Shiite doctors and medical personnel in a regular media campaign. Many were also arrested, tortured and fired.
The insane torture of Shiites in Al-Khalifa prisons
The wave of arrests of Bahrain’s Shiites for participating in the peaceful protests of 2011 has started and continues in a mad manner. Since then, in the absence of an independent judiciary in Bahrain, many have been tried in absentia on trumped-up charges without a trial, and have been sentenced to life in prison. Bahraini Shiite children and adolescents are among the biggest victims of the Al Khalifa regime’s hostile policies.
According to human rights organizations, 21 types of torture and ill-treatment have been used against prisoners inside Bahraini prisons since 2011, during which 791 cases of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners have been recorded.
Among the inhumane methods of torturing freedom of expression prisoners are the following:
Prevent a prisoner from sleeping.
Avoid going to the bathroom.
Forcing a prisoner to stand for hours and even days.
Insulting the religious beliefs and intellectual and religious tendencies of the prisoners.
Forcing prisoners to dance and sing.
Forcing to sit in the trash.
Prisoners are allowed to use bathroom and toilet for only five minute.
Physical and psychological torture of prisoners with batons, iron tools and electric wires, while immersing the whole body in cold water.
Forcing prisoners to beat each other.
Rape.
Forcing prisoners’ heads to be placed in landfills. (This type of punishment is for juvenile and senior prisoners).
Forcing prisoners to commit degrading acts, including kissing the shoes of police officers and security officers.
Suppression of prisoners with tear gas, bullets, sound bombs, etc.
Prevent prisoners from eating for several days.
Electric shock.
Extinguishing cigarettes on prisoners’ bodies.
Prevent the treatment of prisoners.
The wave of executions of Shiites in Bahrain
Prior to 2017, there were seven Bahrainis sentenced to death for freedom of expression, up from 15 in 2017, four of whom were sentenced to death in absentia. But in 2018, about 12 people were added to this group, four of whom were sentenced in absentia. Currently, 20 Bahraini citizens are awaiting execution, all of whom are politically charged.
The Bahrain National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR) is the main human rights watchdog in the country. However, this institution actually acts as a complement to the racist policies of the Al-Khalifa regime, because it lacks independence and in many cases has supported the execution of prisoners of conscience.
The United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia are among the most important supporters of the Bahraini government, which has supported the Bahraini regime in the political, propaganda and armaments, and in the deployment of military forces.
The repression of Bahrain’s Shiites has continued unabated this year, and in recent weeks the country’s streets have witnessed mass rallies and protests against Al Khalifa’s repressive policies against Shiites and prisoners of freedom of expression. Sheikh Issa Qasim, the Shiite leader in Bahrain, has also warned of any harm to those in Al Khalifa prisons.
Amid the outbreak of the Corona epidemic and the severe lack of access to health care in Bahraini prisons, 21 human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have recently expressed concern about the situation of freedom of expression prisoners.
Although the Al Khalifa regime is trying to maintain its sovereignty by increasing its dependence on regional and international powers, but historical evidence shows that foreign support has failed to maintain undemocratic regimes in various countries in the face of popular uprisings. Contemporary examples of this can be seen in countries such as Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, where, despite US support for the ruling regimes, popular revolutions overthrew them.