Guest Post by
There is no region in the world in which the U.S. government’s blatant disregard for human rights, and its shameless foreign policy hypocrisy, is more fully on display than the Middle East. I have spent countless hours writing about this topic (see links at the end), with Saudi Arabia being the focal point of my critique for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, Bahrain has its own litany of human rights abuses, for which Nabeel Rajab has in many ways become the official and unofficial spokesperson.
Bahrain’s abuses have been mentioned here before, although not nearly as much as they warrant; probably because it is really just a colony of Saudi Arabia and the U.S., and I have focused criticism on them instead. That said, before reading on, I’d go back and check out the 2012 article: Meet Amber Lyon: Former Reporter Exposes Massive Censorship at CNN.
Moving on to today’s topic, human rights activist Nabeel Rajab frightens the Bahraini regime more than any other individual on earth, which is why he is constantly being arrested on preposterous charges. In fact, his most recent incarcerations have been related to tweets. Yes, tweets. See this brief excerpt from Wikipedia:
Following protests during the Formula 1 race in April 2012 that attracted media attention, Rajab was arrested and incarcerated several times. On 9 July, he was detained and sentenced to three months prison for having “insulted Bahrainis” in a Twitter message and most recently on 16 August, while still in detention, Rajab was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on three protest-related charges. The verdict has drawn criticism from Bahrain’s western allies and human rights organizations. In December, 2012, the sentence was reduced to 2 years in prison after appeal. In December 2013, a court denied him early release. He was released on 24 May 2014, after serving 2 years in prison. He was re-arrested on 1 October over criticizing the government on Twitter. On 2 November he was released on bail, pending his next trial on 20 January 2015.
Now, Mr. Rajab has presented President Obama with a conundrum following his open letter to him, which was published by the New York Times. Here is the letter:
Continue reading “Jailed Bahraini Human Rights Activist Writes Open Letter to Obama from Prison”
