Al-Wefaq SG: Bahrain regime is not heading for solution, wide violations over three months

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Bahrain is under a tribal rule and the state is absent, Sheikh Ali Salman said, adding, the regime continues to practice wide violations and Al-Wefaq Human Right’s has documented big numbers of various violations since March 2013. The regime practices these violations to entrench the current monopoly over decision-making and power.Sheikh Ali Salman, the Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society spoke at a press conference that was held at Al-Wefaq headquarters on Thursday 4th July.“Any solution must be based on equality and by consensus of all Bahrainis and we are most ready to find a solution, ” he said, “we will not be part of a solution that entrenches tyranny”.Dangerous indicatorsSalman said a number of indications draw the current situation in Bahrain, “There is a team working on discrimination and systematic cleansing against the opposition practiced by state institutions besides the ruling family’s monopoly over decision”He revealed that over 40 senior posts have been recently assigned, only two of which were given to Shiites. Another indicator, he said, is that more than 40 protest-notices were rejected by the Ministry of Interior, being in the capital Manama or other places.Salman blamed the state media for contributing to worsen the situation by its “incitement against the opposition”. Hundreds of treason and defamation articles against the opposition have been published in the quasi-official papers, he said.“If we could depend on a trusted judiciary, we would have come out with a clear conviction of these articles that include incitement not opinions or criticism. This is exactly what the Bassiouni report had condemned the state media for”, he added.Salman revealed numbers of documented violations by Al-Wefaq’s Liberties and Human Rights Department over three months starting from March 2013. He said the very same violations that Mr. Bassiouni had documented, and more, are happening today.” Over the past 3 months, AlWefaq’s Human Rights managed to document 646 arrests among men, 11 arrests among women, and 62 arrests among children. In total, 719 were arrested over 3 months, 208 of the 719 were freed, another 220 were freed only after they had fully served their sentences”.“Since March 2013, 113 cases of torture and 164 injuries were documented by Al-Wefaq. 739 homes were raided, mostly in early morning hours and without legal warrants. In these home raids, the whole family is subjected to abuse and violations not just the arrested”.Daily protests totaled up to 932. Most of the 932 protests were attacked because the MoI was not noted. At many times the repression included homes as a collective punishment which is disproportionate use of force to the group of protesters”.Projects struggling for democratic transitionOn the political situation in Bahrain, Salman said, “Over the past decades, we have seen a number of political projects in Bahrain. We in Al-Wefaq, and the political parties have a project, but there are other projects. One is the coalition for the republic, not an Islamic republic, a democratic republic. Another is that expressed in youth groups by right to self-determination”.“The third political project is the Manama Document represented by the political parties. Our project is to make the people be the source of all powers that the royal family currently controls. To change the absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy and replace discrimination with equality. A new division is being implemented today between those naturalized and the Sunnis and the Shiites, and this is not a sectarian divide.“The Manama document calls for an elected government by the people and an independent judiciary. It draws a roadmap to exit the current setback Bahrain is living.“Recently a new political project named Al-Fatih Document was announced, it’s not very different to the current situation. For example, it calls for the Prime Minister to be assigned to stay 8 years in office at most, this is not the aspiration of the Bahraini people”.A project to entrench the tribal ruleSalman said, on the other side of all the mentioned projects, is a project to entrench the tribe and its rule over the people. He mentioned that in the 70s there was an agreement on a constitution, but the tribe discovered that it contradicts with its rule, so it said no to the constitution and the tribal rule continued until 2001.After the National Charter, he said, the king declared that the people will have right to legislation and that the Shura Council was advisory only, but in 2002 all this was denied and the tribal rule continued. Then, on 14 February 2011, the revolution erupted, so the dialogue was launched along with superficial amendments.“Over the past 3 months, we found that the same doctrine of tribal rule dominates. This doctrine refuses equal citizenship. In the dialogue, when we say the people are the source of all powers they confront us, this tribal doctrine cannot produce a solution and it is the core problem in Bahrain. We need people who understand equality and citizenship in order to reach a modern and democratic state.“We hope a democratic future for Bahrain, and even the hardliners in the regime know change is coming”The solution must be BahrainiSalman pointed out that even though the solution in Bahrain must be Bahraini and though solutions implemented in other countries like South Africa or Ireland or Egypt cannot be implemented here, yet, he said, there is a common factor between all.He stressed, “We cannot accept a proposal that do not respect the rule of the people, peaceful transfer of power and human rights, this is no solution. A proposal that divides the people based on sects and tribes is not a solution. An unilateral proposal is no solution, the solution can only come through consensus between all Bahrainis”, he added, “nobody, not even the King, has the right to decide on behalf of the people of Bahrain”.“We are most ready for a Bahraini solution, but not one that entrenches tyranny and marginalization of the people. And we will not be part of a solution that puts Shiites before Sunnis. We are calling for a democracy that ensures rights of political and religious minorities, not just the majority”.Leaks on for-no-good solutionsCommenting on questions on rumors about coming proposals and agreements, Salman said, “We in AlWefaq have not received any official proposals, we read the situation like everyone else does. And we ready to look for a solution. The leaks we heard indicate that there is an entrenchment of the tribal project that controls the state.He affirmed that “Whoever calls for violence is an exception and not in the opposition’s unity frame.Why is the Pearl Square still blocked?Salman said the Egyptian people exercise their right to protest in the Tahrir square so why are the Bahrainis banned from protesting at the Pearl square?On the Egyptian events, Salman stated, “We understand and respect that Morsi was elected, but the people of Egypt have the final say. We praise the Egyptian army for its neutral position and which did not use live ammunition against its people. We praise the Egyptian army for transferring power to a constitutional party.He said, “We are saddened for the blood that has been shed in Egypt these days, we call for the aspiration of the people to be considered a red line.“We do not accept arrests among the Muslim brotherhood, unless by order from the Egyptian judiciary. Everyone, including the Muslim Brotherhood must have the right to participate in the early elections.Meetings between the opposition parties and diplomatsSalman mentioned that the opposition parties continue to hold meetings with diplomats from the West and East and their answer is always that the solution must be Bahraini.“Regardless of hardliners or moderates in the regime, good intentions must be proven on ground”, Salman affirmed. “As long as the authority in Bahrain is violating human rights and marginalizing the people, the revolution will continue.“The Gulf is heading to political solution, these are the leaks we heard, if this is true, it’s a positive indicator.“We thank Oman for its statement, that Bahrain must respond to its people’s demands.Salman also stated, “We support all nonviolent calls for protest, and the international community must protect the protesters in Bahrain like it does in Egypt and Tunis and other places”./129