Britain urged to ban royal head of Bahrain Olympic committee
Son of Bahrain's king set to visit London 2012 despite being accused of violating athletes' human rights during Arab spring
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Bahrain's Sheikh Nasser has been accused of torturing detainees during the Arab spring. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/AFP
This article is the subject of a legal complaint made on
behalf of His Highness Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. A response
from the President's office, Bahrain, was published here on 22 June 2012.
Britain is being urged to deny entry to the head of Bahrain's Olympic committee – the son of the king – on the grounds of alleged involvement in serious human rights violations in the Gulf island state.
Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa is claimed to have been "personally engaged" in beating, flogging and kicking pro-democracy protestors during Bahrain's brief chapter in the Arab spring last year.
Documents submitted to David Cameron and William Hague, the foreign secretary, and seen by the Guardian, describe how Sheikh Nasser launched "a punitive campaign to repress Bahraini athletes who had demonstrated their support (for) the peaceful pro-democracy movement.
"Following his directives more than 150 professional athletes, coaches and referees were subjected to arbitrary arrests, night raids, detention, abuse and torture by electric cables and other means," said the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), a Berlin-based group.
Mohammed Hassan Jawad described how he and Mohammed Habeebe al-Muqdad were treated by the king's son at Manama Fort prison clinic on April 9 after they had taken part in a demonstration calling for the overthrow of the regime. "He started abusing us, began to flog, beat and kicked us everywhere," Jawad told a dissident newspaper quoted by the ECCHR. "He took a rest and drank water and then resumed the torture by pulling us from our hair and beards. No one else was involved in our torture and hence agony... He ordered the jailers to put our feet up to beat us. The torture continued for almost half a day until dawn."
Sheikh Nasser denies the allegations. The government of Bahrain acknowledges that human rights abuses have been committed by the authorities and says they, along with Sheikh Nasser, "unequivocally condemn them". Abuses were investigated by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), appointed by King Hamad to examine the handling of the unrest.
The UK government has said in relation to the Olympics that "where there is independent, reliable and credible evidence that an individual has committed human rights abuses, the individual will not normally be permitted to enter the UK."
Bahrain is a sensitive case in the wider context of the Arab spring protests since King Hamad is treated as a valued ally of the west who plays host to the US Fifth Fleet and is close to Saudi Arabia, the regional powerhouse and the Middle East's biggest oil exporter. But his Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty rules over a restive Shia majority which has experienced sharp polarisation since the events of last year, when some 50-60 people were killed. The government in Manama has often blamed Iran for fomenting unrest.
Britain regularly urges the Bahraini government to implement the findings of the BICI, especially as they relate to human rights. King Hamad was in London for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations earlier this month.
Unlike other more prominent figures, such as the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad or Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Sheikh Nasser is not subject to an EU or UN travel ban, so a committee of officials and ministers from the Foreign Office, Home Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will decide whether to grant or deny him a visa.
"The irony of welcoming to the London 2012 Olympic Games an individual who is alleged to have led an organised and brutal repression of athletes because they peacefully exercised their internationally recognised right to freedom of expression and association during Bahrain's Arab Spring would be a blow to all athletes around the world, and irreconcilable with the UK commitment to human rights and claimed support to peaceful pro-democracy movements," the ECCHR said. The bid is being supported by Bahraini opposition groups.
"Anyone can make allegations but without evidence they are not valid," said a spokesman for the Bahraini embassy in London. "We are very disappointed with NGOs who are focusing on Bahrain and forgetting about Syria."
The issues of sport and politics in Bahrain met explosively earlier this year over the Formula One Grand Prix, which went ahead despite concerns about ongoing human rights abuses.
Avaaz, the online campaigning group, is also circulating a petition demanding that Sheikh Nasser be denied entry to the UK. The ECCHR campaign is based on the argument that the prince could be held criminally liable according to international human rights law standards. It urged the government to act on this case and ensure it is "not subjected to politically-driven double standards".
Britain is being urged to deny entry to the head of Bahrain's Olympic committee – the son of the king – on the grounds of alleged involvement in serious human rights violations in the Gulf island state.
Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa is claimed to have been "personally engaged" in beating, flogging and kicking pro-democracy protestors during Bahrain's brief chapter in the Arab spring last year.
Documents submitted to David Cameron and William Hague, the foreign secretary, and seen by the Guardian, describe how Sheikh Nasser launched "a punitive campaign to repress Bahraini athletes who had demonstrated their support (for) the peaceful pro-democracy movement.
"Following his directives more than 150 professional athletes, coaches and referees were subjected to arbitrary arrests, night raids, detention, abuse and torture by electric cables and other means," said the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), a Berlin-based group.
Mohammed Hassan Jawad described how he and Mohammed Habeebe al-Muqdad were treated by the king's son at Manama Fort prison clinic on April 9 after they had taken part in a demonstration calling for the overthrow of the regime. "He started abusing us, began to flog, beat and kicked us everywhere," Jawad told a dissident newspaper quoted by the ECCHR. "He took a rest and drank water and then resumed the torture by pulling us from our hair and beards. No one else was involved in our torture and hence agony... He ordered the jailers to put our feet up to beat us. The torture continued for almost half a day until dawn."
Sheikh Nasser denies the allegations. The government of Bahrain acknowledges that human rights abuses have been committed by the authorities and says they, along with Sheikh Nasser, "unequivocally condemn them". Abuses were investigated by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), appointed by King Hamad to examine the handling of the unrest.
The UK government has said in relation to the Olympics that "where there is independent, reliable and credible evidence that an individual has committed human rights abuses, the individual will not normally be permitted to enter the UK."
Bahrain is a sensitive case in the wider context of the Arab spring protests since King Hamad is treated as a valued ally of the west who plays host to the US Fifth Fleet and is close to Saudi Arabia, the regional powerhouse and the Middle East's biggest oil exporter. But his Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty rules over a restive Shia majority which has experienced sharp polarisation since the events of last year, when some 50-60 people were killed. The government in Manama has often blamed Iran for fomenting unrest.
Britain regularly urges the Bahraini government to implement the findings of the BICI, especially as they relate to human rights. King Hamad was in London for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations earlier this month.
Unlike other more prominent figures, such as the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad or Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Sheikh Nasser is not subject to an EU or UN travel ban, so a committee of officials and ministers from the Foreign Office, Home Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will decide whether to grant or deny him a visa.
"The irony of welcoming to the London 2012 Olympic Games an individual who is alleged to have led an organised and brutal repression of athletes because they peacefully exercised their internationally recognised right to freedom of expression and association during Bahrain's Arab Spring would be a blow to all athletes around the world, and irreconcilable with the UK commitment to human rights and claimed support to peaceful pro-democracy movements," the ECCHR said. The bid is being supported by Bahraini opposition groups.
"Anyone can make allegations but without evidence they are not valid," said a spokesman for the Bahraini embassy in London. "We are very disappointed with NGOs who are focusing on Bahrain and forgetting about Syria."
The issues of sport and politics in Bahrain met explosively earlier this year over the Formula One Grand Prix, which went ahead despite concerns about ongoing human rights abuses.
Avaaz, the online campaigning group, is also circulating a petition demanding that Sheikh Nasser be denied entry to the UK. The ECCHR campaign is based on the argument that the prince could be held criminally liable according to international human rights law standards. It urged the government to act on this case and ensure it is "not subjected to politically-driven double standards".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/20/bahrain-olympic-prince-human-rights
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