The situation in Bahrain calls for human rights activism - Interview with Maryam Al Khawaja

                 Maryam Al Khawaja - Photo: private

• You live the life of a human rights activist. What triggered your activism and when did it start?

I guess I was born a human rights activist. My father is a human rights activist and I surely got part of my interest in human rights from him. I grew up outside of Bahrain, in Denmark, where my family lived under political asylum status and both my parents played a big role in our political awareness. We then returned to Bahrain in 2001, and I started volunteering for the Bahrain Center of Human Rights when it was established in 2002. I felt that the situation in Bahrain needed activists, people who were ready to give their time and energy to work toward improving the situation, solving problems and stopping the numerous human rights violations. When I later returned from the United States where I was on a Fulbright Scholarship, I resumed my involvement with the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Then in August 2010, there was a big government crackdown on civil society organizations and human rights activists. I received word that my name was being brought up during interrogation proceedings which meant there was a chance of arrest, and eventually I had to leave to London where I stayed until very recently. I returned to Bahrain 4 days before the current protests started on 14 February 2011.

• You said the situation in Bahrain calls for human rights activism. Can you please tell us more about this?

In the 1990s, the situation in Bahrain was volatile and around 40 persons were killed during the Bahraini Intifada. In 1999, the current king - who at the time was still a prince - took over. He promised to turn Bahrain into a constitutional monarchy and to carry out major reforms. The problem, however, was that these reforms were never institutionalized, which allowed him to backtrack on these promises whenever he wanted. In 2002, he announced himself king and unilaterally wrote a new constitution. He didn’t establish a constitutional monarchy but rather positioned himself above the constitution. This is the main problem. We also have many other problems such as the political naturalization of foreigners, which is a policy pursued by the government. Foreigners are brought into the country and given nationality upon arrival at the airport. With this, the government pursues to deliberately change the demography of Bahraini society because all foreigners who are naturalized are Sunni Muslims. In Bahrain, approximately 70% of the population is Shi’a. These foreigners are brought in from different countries, such as Syria, Jordan and Yemen. This is not only a problem for Shi’a Bahrainis but for Sunni Bahrainis as well. It is a problem that affects the society as a whole. The naturalized foreigners show a high level of loyalty to the ruling family and are employed in the security forces to oppress peaceful protests. Bahrainis also feel the discrimination. A Bahraini family for example sometimes needs to wait for 20 years before it is granted government housing, while the newly naturalized citizens receive this benefit upon arrival in Bahrain. The higher level posts within security forces are given to Bahraini Sunnis, and positions on any level in the security forces are not open to Shi’a Muslims. This further increases unemployment given that the Ministry of Interior is the biggest employer in Bahrain.

There is also the issue of arbitrary arrests. Around 500 persons were arbitrarily arrested during a crackdown which started last August. Among them were around 116 minors. It was only last week that the government released some of these prisoners when the government – under pressure from the ongoing protests – decided to grant amnesty to political prisoners. The released prisoners showed marks of torture on their bodies, which confirmed to us once more the use of torture in Bahrain’s prison. It is important to note, however, that around 96 people still remain detained, and that the charges have not been dropped against those released.

• Could you give us a picture of activism in Bahrain? Would you say that it is mostly young people who are activists? Are there many women, young women such as yourself?

From these last protests it is easy to see that women are participating. But even during previous protests, women also took part. And it was surprising for many that the number of women protesters was usually equal to that of men. In the current protests which are taking place in what is now called Martyrs’ Square, women are organizing their own groups and participating on stage where they read poetry, speak about their grievances, and discuss politics. In this sense, if participating in the protests is considered activism then there are many women activists. I am amazed and very proud of the courage and determination women activists in Bahrain have shown over the past 3 weeks. However, if you’d ask me specifically about women activists in the field of human rights, then I would say we are very few.

As for young people, these protests showed not only that there is an active youth but also that they are really well organized. The protests were called for by young people through Facebook. They called for protests on the 14th of February because this date coincides with the 10th anniversary of the king unilaterally changing the constitution to make himself the highest authority in the country. In Martyrs’ Square, which is the name protesters have chosen for the Pearl Roundabout after people were killed there, people don’t know each other but have organized themselves into different groups. For instance one group came down to the Square and opened a media centre, another group volunteered to clean the streets during the protests and after, etc.

• You mention earlier sectarian policies when you talked about the naturalization of foreigners. How does that play into the protests?

The demand for reforms is not new. During the 1950s there was religious unity and protests took place in which both Sunni and Shi’a clerics participated. Of course, at that time, protests were repressed by the British. In the past 10 years, the government increased the sectarian divide through policies which sought to divide and conquer. The government always turns any protest into a Shi’a issue to further instigate sectarian divide. They are even trying to convince Sunnis that an attack against the royal family is an attack against Sunnis, and that if the Shi’a succeed and take over, Sunnis would become a threatened minority.

• What, in your opinion, are the most prominent problems facing women’s political participation in Bahrain?

Women in Bahrain have a right to vote. This is not a problem in itself. The real problem is that we do not have a legitimate parliament. There is one woman who is a member of parliament. But she only got the seat, because no one ran against her in her constituency. I think that women in Bahrain don’t trust each other enough to support each other when running for parliament. The political parties also play a big role in this. They guide or advice people on who to vote for, and of course this is always men. We do have several women who are very strong participants in the political scene though. Other problems facing women in general include sexual harassment and unequal wages for similar posts held by men. These are some of the problems.

• If you were the elected ruler today, what would your priority be? What would be the first step you would take towards change?

I believe that the government should represent all people regardless of their confession, religion or if they are atheists. The problem is that our government thinks that the people work for them. I think that those persons in government responsible for killings, arbitrary arrests and torture should be brought before a court and tried be they prime minister, crown prince, or even king.