DEC 92

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PART 2

PAGE2 . VOICE OF BAHRAIN DECEMBER 1992 Tribalism is Anti-Statehood The Conflict Between Family Rule and Modernism Twenty years ago, Bahrain was in the middle of several crises. The Shah of Iran wanted Bahrain and the United Nation had to send an envoy to report on the wishes of the people; whether they wished to form an independent state or be annexed to Iran. The Bntish were withdrawing their anny from Bahrain and the national movement had stepped-up its pressure for political change and reform. Cholera broke out in October 1972 to the extent that the government was about to close the airport in an attempt to contain the disease. In November 1972 a disastrous fire ravaged the BAPCO refinery destroying eight storage tanks and causing heavy financial losses. It took the fire brigade 48 hours to extinguish the flames. The refinery was modernised to protect it from such fire (or sabotage) and advanced technology made sure that Bahrain was up to the highest standard of safety and industrial protecton. Cholera is history. The high level of quality medical doctors and facilities provided by welltrained Bahraws was advanced and modern enough to protect society from evil diseases. The military vacuum created by the British withdrawal was filled by US navy and military protection from external aggression and from possible internal military take-over was “assured”. All crises seemed to be solvable, except what !) do with national demand for political change and reform. For Bahrain to be granted the right to join the United Nation as an independent state, it meant some form of modernism and general consensus was needed. Fearing the Shah may “woo” the Shia Arabs (who are the indigenous and form the majority of population), the ruler (Sheikh Issa bin Salman Al Khalifa) contacted sane Shia community elders and assured them that he had no ill-intentions against the Shia and what happened in the past (degradation, sectarian oppression, etc..) was history. Toprove this hebuiltamosque (mattam) for the Shia in the newly constructed town named after him (Issa Town) and paid a visit to the holy city of Najaf (Iraq), where he met the then world spiritual leada of the Shia (Ayatollah Mohsin Al Hakim) and expressed his goodwill towards the Bahraini Shia. He also permitted some exiled Bahrain Shia activists such as Seyyed Ali Kamal Al-Din to return Bahrain without fear of reprisal. The same offer was made to most of those exiled in other countries since the fifties to return without fear of reprisal. The Khalifa family was concerned that those senior exiles returning home we’re keen to see something has changed. To dampen such pressure, many of the exiles were offered senior administrative post including ministenal ones in the newly formed cabinet. Others received gifts in the fonn of houses, cars, cash etc.. But still the majority resisted buy-out of their opposition. What to do? Within the ruling family, there were two wings proposing different solutions to the prob lem. The hard-liners led by the then and current prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa, objected to any adventure into an alien (with respect to the concept of tribe) world of politics, whereby the ruling family may give up some of its privileges and power to “others”. The realists led by the then and current foreign minister, Sheikh Moharnmed bin Mubarak, thought that eventually the ruling tribe will have to give up some of its pnvileges and power, so why not do so voluntarily. With the political climate pushing strongly towards more openness and the need felt by the Khalifa family lo extract some form of legitimacy, the relists won the day. The Amir announced his pelTnission for establishing a Constituent Assembly and the election was held on 1 December 1972. The Constituent Assembly was made up of 22 elected members, 8 appointed by the government and 12 ministers (ex-officio) members. A draft of the Kuwaiti constitution was adapted and presented by the government to the Assembly and after a year of debate the new B ahraini Constitution was issued on 6 December 1972. Election for the first National Assembly followed a year latter on 7 December 1973. Ibis was made up of 30 elected members and 14 (ex-officio) ministers. In both the Constituent and National Assemblies, these ministers were granted the same rights as the elected members. Although such arrangement was devised to ensure the Ming family’s leverage on the legislature, the people of Bahrain and their elected representatives presented a highly sophisticatedskill indebating legislations, budget and in acting as a watch-dog against unjust practices of the government. Out of the 14 ministers, six were members of the ruling family (including the post of prime minister), i.e. it was tribally controlled. Despite all these provisions, the Khalifa tribe found itself faceto-face with the people of Bahrain for the first time since they invaded the country in 1782. What happened latter on was known to every one. The Khalifa government failed to answer all critical questions regarding matters such as budget allocations (on-third of national income goes to His Highness), repressive measures by the Bntish-officered security service, the right of labour to unionize, etc… Labour desputes and students demonstrations were the talk of the day. The Amir struck at opposition by issuing the State Security Law inOctober 1974 without consulting the parliament. Both Islamic and National Blocks within the Parliament rallied other independent members and the pubic into opposing the humiliating decree, which cmpowers the interior minister to order the administrative detention of political suspects forup to 3 years (renewable) without trial. This was a golden moment the prime minister has long waited for. To win his point he withdraw from the Parliarnent, thus hindering its sessions by affecting the quorum. On 24 August 1975, he wrote to his brother the Amir (ruler) complaining that the parliamentarians were obstructing the work of the government. The big brother responded by dissolving the Parliament on 26 August 1975. Twenty years on since Bahrain experienced some form of democracy, the world has changed dramatically. Yet the same players are on stage replaying their stereo-type connotations. “His Highness” the Arnir states in his latest interview with the London-based Saudi daily “Al Sharq Al Awast” of 9 Novernber 1992: “we are serious in announcing the formation of a consultative assembly which will be made up of appointed members”. He goes on: “just as the Americans are proud of their political system, so are we in the Gulf. Our approach did not come from vacuum. It is the outcome of our continued tradition and way of life”. By this, the Amir is conveying the full message, that tribalism is not compatible with free election and true public participation. Selfdetermination, hu nan rights, democracy and the rest of the jargon are non of his concern. He is proud of his way of life and is not prepared to give up his authoritarian rule for the sake of a “legitimate” authority, neither is he prepared to give up coercion for the sake of consensus, nor is he prepared to replace the tribe with the state. Who Signed the Petition The petition submitted to the Amir on 15 November was sponsored by six personalities, three Shiaand three Sunni: SheikhAbdul Ameer Al Jamri (religious scholar and Ex-MP), Mr. Hamid Sangoor (lawyer), Mr. Abdul Wahhab Husain Ali (Educationalist), Dr. Abdul Latif Al Mahmood (university professor), Mr. Mohammed Jaber Al Sabah (Ex-MP) and Mr. Isa Al powder (religious scholar). The petition was signed by 153 people of high social, professional and political status . The signatones composed of 22 religious men, 3 Ex-MPs, 8 lecturers and teachers, 17 businessmen, 32 lastyers 18 artists and actors, 9 executives and specialists, 3 journalists, 17 engineers and 24 others. Four women were among the signatories.. Suppression of Religious Activities The Security forces steppedup its campaign to supress the actvities of Shia religious gatherings. AI1 people in charge of the premises for holding activities (Ma’tems) were summoned to Al Khamis Police HQ on 12 November
, and were warned not to allow any religious processions to take place without a written permission. On 31 October two youthy from Jahrarnia Matem were arrested for unknown reasons. They are Husain Ismail and Fuad Salman. This is yet another example of the Al Khalifa attrocities against basic human rights, as have religious activities have been going on for the last 1300 years. This is part of the campaign embarked upon by the regime against the popular and ideolgoical culture of the people of RAhrain which preceded the AL Kalifa

PAGE 4 VOICE OF BAHRAIN DECEMBER 1992 _ Bahrain is Not An Oasis of Liberalism In a special report to the BBC, Roger Hardy who had just returned from Bahrain explained his views of that country. Here is the text of that report which was broadcast at 9.15 GMT on 12th November 1992. In a well-to-do suburb of Manama, hidden from view by discreet wooden screen is a shanty town hidden by a jumble of wood and corrugated iron. A home for a few hundred peopk. This is no more pocket of poverty. The inhabitants of these squalid homes are Bahrainis who are not recognised as Bahrainis. And as such, they are part of a much bigger problem. Gain Bahraini citizenship, and you gain much more than a passport. You can buy land, start business, and most crucial of all, you become eligible for generous government loans . Without citizenship if your ancestors settled in Bahrain generations ago, you are in limbo, and thousands of B ahrairus are in this predicament. Bahrain is a small place, with only half a million people, about 30 percent of whom are immigrants, mainly from the Indian subcontinenL The indigenous popul ation is a patch work quilt of ethnic, tribal and religious communities . Over the centuries, Arabs from the Arabian mainland and Persians from the Gulf have settled here. The ruling Al Khalifa family who settled in Bahrain in the late eighteenth century are from the main stream Surmi branchof Islam, but about 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shias. Travel only a few miles outside Manama and you discover the distinctiveness of the Shiite villages, with their”matams” or “funeral houses”, meeting places which help to give the Shiite community its special source of social solidarity. I passed black and white posters of Ayatullah Khoei, a revered Shiite figure, whose death in Iraq in August brought hundreds of Bahraini Shiites out in the streets in a display of mourning. Because Shiites are in the majority, they suffer most from the problem of citizenship. A government official told me bluntly, that a passport is not an entitlement, but a reward for loyalty. The message is clear. The Shiites, including the shanty town dwellers are simply not trusted. This was more understandable a decade ago than it is today. Following the Khomeini revolution in 1979, Shiite Iran revived an old claim to Bahrain. And two years later, the B ahraini authorities uncovered a Shute coup attempt, apparently backed by Tehran. But since (Lrnam) Khomeini’s death, fear of Iran has receded, and nowadays, Bahrain Shiite groups, whether at home or exile seem to have abandoned the heady language of Islamic revolution. What they and other Bahrainis want, is a return to the parliamentary democracy which the country briefly experienced in the 1970s. But the ruling family seems unwilling to go this far. Under thepressureof the Gulfwarlastyear, most the kings and Aniirs of the Arabian peninsula have felt the need to talk about democratisation. Even conservative cautious Saudi Arabia has announced a plan for a “majlis”, or consultative council. And this week the Amir confirmed that Bahrain, too, will soon have a majlis. But it looks as if it will be an appointed body without legislative power. Change may not come fast enough for a population which resents the paternalism of its rulers. We are treated like children, one Bahraini told me. And another gave his view of an elected majlis by quoting an Arabic proverb: “After fasting we ate onion”. To be sure, Bahrain is not a brutally repressive as Iraq or Syria. And it is a good deal more open than neighbouring Saudi Arabia. But neither is it the oasis of liberalism it claims to be. It has a poor human rights recordw Its internal security service run by a British expatriate since the 1 960s is efficient and omnipresent. Political descent, especially amongst Shia groups, is harshly suppressed. Anddespite thepresence of CNN and BBC World Service television the local media are carefully controlled by the Ministry of Information, but the settlest form of political control is also the sirnplest. Even a well-off B ahraini whether a Sunni or Shiite who has a passport and all the benefits it confers lives in fear that if he puts a foot wrong, his passport could be taken away and could lose everything. For him and for all Bahrainis, the fate of the shanty town dwellers serves as a grim warrung. PetitioninaFor TheConstitution….cOntinuedeOmDaael public opinion is against the contiunation of the status quo, and a democratic change has become a necessity. When the government leaked the news of its intention to form a nominated council, the idea was to gauge the reaction of the people at a time when the regime is facing many chal.^nges in its economic and political policies. The hope was that such a step would keep the people quiet for a while. Time was running short for the government and the calls for change were coming from all directions. With the defeat of Geroge Bush in the American presidential elections and the coming of Bill Clinton to the White House, the Gulf regimes are worried about the implication of this change cscpecially in light of the fact that the issue of human rights may become an important factor in fforming the American attitude towards the region. Furthermore, the Gulf officials are feeling the pinch from their Ewopean allies in this matter. In the last trade talks between the European Community and the Gulf of finials which were held last month in the Qatari capital of Doha, there were heated exchanges between the two sides on the issue of human rights. Mr. Abdulla Beshara, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council complained the European parliamentarians “had raised issues unrelated to the topics under discussion, some of which were political, the other social like the status of women, the means of information transfer and human rights! Mr. Beshara asked the Europeans in the conference if these issues would affect the ultimate results of the debate between the EC and the GCC. Mr. Martin Bingman, the deputy president of the

European Commission for internal market and industrial affairs, replied that the European Parliament represents the feelings and values of the Euopean citizens and the commitment to human rights. Mr. Beshara commented that there was a difference between human rights as seen by the United Nations and the cult