Crackin’ Down

So yesterday Obama announced that he had signed an executive order targeting people and entities who use technology to help authoritarian governments crack-down on dissidents.

Obama stated in his speech on Monday at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington that:

“Technologies should be in place to empower citizens, not to oppress them,”

Ultimately these new penalties are aimed at pressuring authoritarian entities that use information technology to commit human-rights abuse. But the US in its statement specifically signaled out and targeted Iran and Syria for condemnation. The U.S. treasury department has already slapped sanctions on six Iranian and Syrian companies & government branches along with the head of Syria’s intelligence directorate. The sanctions implemented will freeze any of the assets they hold in US jurisdiction whilst also simultaneously banning any US citizen from doing business with them.

Now I am not one to criticize any steps made to help inhibit any authoritarian regimes crackdown on its people. After all, it is true what Obama has said, technology should be used to benefit the human race rather than crush it. But where my contention lies is in the selectivity of this policy. As is made clear, the policy is aimed at Iran and Syria, two regimes that aren’t or have never been in the good graces of the West. With the daily protests and rising death toll in Syria its emphasis in the statement makes sense topically as well as politically since the UN is at loss at how to best ‘discipline’ the regime’s wanton violence. But some may frown at the inclusion of Iran. If we are looking at the crackdown on dissidents, unlike places like Syria it is not going through an abnormal uproar of dissent. So why was it included? Two words… Nuclear Weapons. These sanctions fit nicely into the US’s Iran agenda and hence their integral inclusion in the statement is explained.

Now don’t get me wrong, that isn’t to say there isn’t any dissent or human rights abuses taking place in Iran. On the contrary, its record on human rights is as bleak as any paranoid authoritarian’s regime. My point isn’t that Iran shouldn’t be included on the list, just that it should have been joined by the likes of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan etc. Its inclusion and especially Bahrain’s exclusion is comical. Bahrain has been spotlighted in the news lately due to the ongoing heavy-handed crackdown on protesters as the F1 race is held on its shores.  The silence on Bahrain doesn’t surprise me, though. It fits nicely into the current US stance on it, i.e. Turn a blind eye.

But another interesting thing to note is the statements focus on ‘technology’. One might wonder why stop at technology that facilitates the authoritarian governments to locate these dissenters, why not also ban the weaponry these regimes use to crack down on these dissenters? After all, knowing who your dissenters are isn’t the same as having the means to punish them. So what’s the hold up? The US is the hold up. It is the biggest arms trader in the world. Awkward to say the least. Don’t want to be seen to be shooting oneself in the foot. It seems the US’s moral compass on those who aide authoritarian regimes is lost when it comes to weaponry. Technology? No No, Dear God No. Guns & Bombs you say? How many you want?

To view this hypocrisy one simply needs to look at any of the many events that have transpired in the Middle East’s revolutionary up-heavel.  An example of this would be that during the crackdown on Egypt’s pro-democracy movement the protesters in Tahrir square were being told that the US stood by them (Regardless of how timid and late this stance was) in their battle for democracy… whilst they had tear gas canisters being fired at them daily with the words ‘Made in the USA’ proudly embezzled on the side. Hypocrisy, you’re doing it right USA.

The point I’d like to stress is the fact that this policy isn’t and shouldn’t be viewed as one void of US interests. Iran and Syria have abused their positions of power and have wronged their people and therefore should be punished no question about it. I applaud the step towards holding to account those who help authoritarian regimes wrong their people, but what I don’t applaud is an inherent selectivity and bias in these steps. It’s poignant that Obama made this speech in front of the Holocaust memorial. After all, it wasn’t technology that simply led to the devastating events of the holocaust, but weaponry.

People are not blind to hypocrisy and those who make grand overtures of being the ‘world’s police force’ should remember that. As the protests in the Middle East have shown us, eloquence of words and speeches from above do not make-up for the hollowness of in-action below.

Simply stated it should be: Accountability of all, in the interest of everyone instead of the few.

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Oblivious Bernie

Bernie Ecclestone yesterday finally put rumors to rest and declared that the F1 race would definitely take place in Bahrain this year. He also claimed in his statement that everything is peaceful and quiet in Bahrain and that everybody is happy with the outcome of this decision. There had been much debate and deliberation prior to his announcement over whether or not the F1 race would be pulled from Bahrain due to the government’s ongoing heavy-handed repression and discrimination of its pro-democracy protesters. The reasons to why the people are protesting are varied and have been covered in this previous post so I wont recite the points again. But bear in mind since my post there have been have been a plethora of abuses of human rights and injustices that have occurred.

In hearing the news of the commencement of the F1 race as scheduled Amnesty responded criticizing the decision stating that:

“as the country prepares to host the Grand Prix, daily anti-government protests continue to be violently suppressed by the riot police that uses tear gas recklessly with fatal results.”

Not only that but on the same day as the announcement was made a young 14 year old boy was shot in the chest by government forces during a protest.

So peaceful and quiet Bernie says. If this is quiet and peaceful I’d like to see his idea of violent. Armagaddon is probably a walk in the park for this Hard-as-nails character. This race should not be held in a country which continues to ignore and repress the cries of its people.

But there are those who argue that the other side of the argument should be given some recognition. This side claims the F1 race will bring in revenue through tourism and jobs. To this I say yes it would, but right now ‘revenue’ is not what the country needs. Instead ‘Justice’ is what it should be seeking as the seeds of discontent and division continue to be sown. And anyway, whatever way you look at it, Bahrain is NOT exactly struggling economically. Fact: It’s not a picture of poverty and depravity. If it has survived countless years without the F1 race, I am sure it will manage to survive this year and the many more years to come without it. After all, this F1 race isn’t exactly going to be a constant yearly fixture on the Bahrani calendar.

Instead the Race should be cancelled. A message should be sent, however small, that no government who serves its needs over its peoples will be rewarded, be it with something as superficial as an international F1 race.

Injustice should not be Ignored, let alone rewarded.

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Ripple Effect: Bahrain

I meant to post this a while back but then the events in Libya started to unfold so never really got the chance to finish this up. So sorry about lateness.

So this post is going to deal with the current turmoil we see occurring in Bahrain. Hopefully to those who don’t know much about what’s exactly going on this might help to shed some light on the situation as I know the situation is one that is albeit a bit more complicated.

The revolutionary mood that has struck Bahrain has caught many people off guard for the simple reason that it was always seen economically speaking as better off than its Middle Eastern partners. The situation in Bahrain is tinged with a slightly different problem then we have seen voiced previously within Egypt and Tunisia, though the concerns and demands of the people remain just as legitimate.

The dilemma in Bahrain has an element of discrimination in it which wasn’t generally present in the previous countries. Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni monarchical family which has been in power since the inception of Bahrain. It, like every other Middle Eastern country, claims a monopoly on power and the exercise of power. The country is ruled by the Al-Khalifa family who are of course the unelected heads of Bahrain. The ‘problem’ with Bahrain is the fact that its majority population is 60-70% Shia and this fact doesn’t sit well with the paranoid ruling class. And unfortunately, this percentage of the population faces discrimination by those in power because of their general numbers. For example, many high level or senior positions are reserved solely for Sunni’s.  It’s also gotten to the point where the people in power constantly grant Bahraini citizenship to Sunni’s around the Middle East to help balance the figures in their favour.

Once again we see the interests of the powerful eclipsing that of the people. Rather than disregard the religious identity of the people in its country it chooses to make an issue out of it, go figure. This is a constant issue I have with many leaders in the Middle East, they take the mantra of ‘divide and rule’ to heart. We have seen this in Egypt where Mubarak went on a rant and rave about how he was the only man standing between Egypt and an Extremist Al-Qaeda led take-over of Egypt. Well, looking at Egypt today, I think we can all rightfully call Bull**** on his rabid claims.

The Bahrani government has of course also followed suit in the same vein though adding its own take on who the ‘enemy’ is. It has claimed that these protesters are simply proxies of Iran and if it wasn’t for their brave stance against the protesters we would have a mini-me Iran on our hands. I find this pathetic excuse which is insulting to everyone’s level of intelligence and intellect.

It’s this simple –minded view that ‘oh they are Shia, and Iran is Shia’ THEREFORE they MUST support each other and be one and the same. There apparently is NO divergence of opinion. Really? Because if that’s true then that means every Sunni I know *me included* should be waving and extolling the virtues of Saudi Arabia just because it’s corrupt, extremist-and-distorted Wahabist outlook has some sort of Sunni strand in it. But the truth is, THAT isn’t the case. I’m no fan or supporter of what’s going on in Saudi regardless of what they claim to be religiously. And the same goes for Iran. Iran itself is facing protests over its rule from within its population a fact Bahrain should take note off.

I’m not a blind human who overlooks injustice simply because of how it’s packaged and presented, and for the Bahrani government to claim the same kind of thing about the protesters legitimate demands is an INSULT and a DISGRACE. Don’t belittle your people’s legitimate concerns just to fit your political agenda. It’s especially disrespectful to the protesters you have gunned down and slain in your efforts to quell the protests.

But having said that i must reinforce that this is not simply a Shia protest, Sunni’s have also laid a stake in this movement and are protesting side by side with the Shia’s demanding their rights to freedom, equality and a demand for real democracy. One of the main claims being spearheaded by the protests is that the ruling family should replicate the monarchy in Britain, by simply being no more than a figurehead of state and taking an apolitical back seat. It’s a claim which ‘shock horror’ has no religious connotations to it. What frustrates me is that this so called divide between Sunni and Shia is constantly perpetrated and reinforced by those in power and therefore magnified to preposterous levels. At the end of the day Sunni or Shia, we are all Muslims.

Let us not fall into the trap laid by our power-hungry and corrupt leaders and show them that regardless of colour, creed, religious outlook and gender, we are all human and deserve to be treated as such with dignity and not as cheap pawns in their petty power-driven-selfish-ego-tistical games.

Till Next Time,