Reforming Reform

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry's report has been in the heart of conflict in the past week since its release. Bassiouni’s speech given at the release ceremony, where the King, Crown Price and the Prime Minister, along with highly appointed officials listening carefully and calculating their reactions, has been remarkably confident. Mr. Bassiouni had also listed the crimes his commission collected from victims and the involvement of officials in the process of arbitrary abuse of law, excessive force and violation of human rights.

                  

In any real democracy, the decision making process is in the hands of all of the people of the country. This is the approach that the people of Bahrain need today. A real direct democracy in which one is responsible for his vote, all votes are of the same value and no man is above the law. If this is declared, respected and acknowledged as reason as a resolution for the circumstances that my country is suffering from, only then, will individuals accept the government's attempts to actual reform.

At this point, the measures of reform are not well-structured or clear. Nor are they sufficient to recover social and politically in order for people to once again be accepting and forgiving of one another regardless of the backgrounds we come from. So far, the government is taking the same recovery steps and no reform is being established.

In the past experiences of civil struggle in Bahrain, crackdowns took place, people got killed, imprisoned, tortured, some to silence and other to insanity, and many were driven out of the country. The very first incidents date back to the time when Bahrain declared its independence from the United Kingdom in 1971. It seems that each decade a new wave of unrest swells up in the heart of Bahrain to be shut down forcefully by the riot police. It does not stop there, but campaigns to promote national unity, mainly engaged in promoting for loyalty to the king rather than the nation of Bahrain, occupy the streets of Bahrain to the point that every celebration becomes an opportunity to emphasize the importance of loyalty to the king and not the country. The major example for this is that the country does NOT celebrate its independence nor do many people understand the complications of the treaties signed with the British protectorate in order to claim independence in Bahrain. Bahrain's date of independence is 14th of August 1971 when both countries signed the agreement freeing Bahrain from Britain. Nonetheless, not a single official celebration is held to celebrate that, instead the National Day is when the previous Emir accessed leadership to the country and it is the only one recognized to being the national celebration rather than the one that declares us as people an independent nation.

This is merely an example of many camouflages of nationalism that the government has been feeding the young and old minds of Bahrain leading to eruption of oppressed agitations along with the systemized campaigns by the government and the local media networks to categorize people as loyalists and traitors. A little research will show you a massive database of such incidents in 2011 and perhaps before.

My main purpose of indulging in these piece of Bahraini culture and history is that reform in eh eyes of the government has always been by forcing people to believe that it is in their best interest to accept the current government, obey it and resign to the destiny they choose for you. In many cases, it is most likely that your sect, economic status, nationality and citizenship that decides how well you will do in the country and how far you are permitted to go.

Now, many new enlightened individuals who came out during the events of 2011 claiming absolute knowledge of the dynamics of politics in Bahrain when before they had no interest or had spent not a moment in their weeks to examine the demands of the marches and protest they have heard about because they enjoyed a lifestyle that is rewarding.

The divisions between the people, whether they were economic, social or political, have always existed. But, what was more important to the citizens was co-existence; this no longer the case. Therefore, for the government to want to reform the damages caused, by them and the opposition as well as the government mediums, they must stop controlling the country, engaging people, offering valid guarantees of change and implementing accountability.

In addition, this is ought to be conducted not only to the people who suffered or inflected torture for the year 2011 but also for the past since the opposition in Bahrain has been working with the international human rights community to bring accountability to the torturers of the past in Bahrain even under the British government’s protectorate.

To efface the obstacles or relapse with such a fragile opportunity presented by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the efforts of Mr. Bassiouni, things have to change not for the people, like it is the habit, but for Al-Khalifa royal family.