(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The below interview is with Zayd al-Isa, Middle East expert, tells us about the double-standard between the United States and its allies - preaching, “Do as we say, not as we do.”
Q: The US has called Bahrain a partner but is it not against the US claims of protecting human rights? Bahrain is famous for gross violations of international human rights norms.
Al-Isa: You are absolutely right. What is happening in Bahrain is gross violations of human rights. It's a flagrant violation of international law.
These should be considered as crimes against humanity because they are indeed crimes against humanity. They show demented savagery of the middle ages. They could be considered as genocidal attacks against peaceful protesters.
What we've been hearing from Clinton is simply supporting those acts. This indicates the shear hypocrisy and double-standards. These statements made by Clinton are absolutely disgraceful. They show the stark contrast and stark contradiction between what they preach and how they support human rights.
They talk about the importance of universal human rights - that's what Obama has talked about - the rhetoric about it, but that's not what we see in action and on the ground, support for the regime in Bahrain although it is committing clear violations of human rights.
It's not surprising considering that in Obama's speech, where he outlined his so-called new policies for the Middle East, he simply ignored Saudi Arabia as if Saudi Arabia is not on the map. He simply carried on talking, ramping up the rhetoric about human rights and universal rights including the right to protest, the right to assembly, extending the universal rights to women, and trying to promote women's ability to reach positions of authority.
And we see, after two days of that speech, that the Saudi authorities arrest a woman for simply driving a car. This is faced with complete silence by the American authorities. It was, basically, a slap in the face for Obama who tried to do the Saudis a favor by ignoring the blatant human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and, actually, not talking or mentioning at all the outright invasion of a sovereign country called Bahrain.
It is a clear cut invasion of that country again, a clear violation of international law, a flagrant violation of human rights. He simply ignored all that and swept it under the carpet.
This statement does show the people of the world, particularly in the Middle East, that his words simply mean nothing. It doesn't have any meaning. It's simply rhetoric. He has failed to put his money where his mouth is.
When push comes to shove, in the case of his friends, Obama has admitted in his speech that these are our friends, and in order for us to become consistent we have to also mention the atrocities taken place there. He says that we have been telling them that they should abandon the use of brute force and they should start a dialogue.
But that doesn't have a meaning on those people. The Bahrainis who are told to have dialogues with are simply put in prison and jail. You cannot have a dialogue with people that you put in prison for simply speaking their minds and asking for basic human rights.
They're asking for the complete halt of genocidal attacks, for the ghastly human right abuses. In the face of all that, the rest of the world has witnessed, they've seen that the Saudis unleashed a most ferocious, murderous onslaught against those innocent people who are simply protesting, are peaceful and unarmed.
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