London, 13 August 2015 – The United States Department of Defence notified the United States Congress of its intent to sell new arms sales to Bahrain last week, a move the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) condemns strongly. In an interesting twist of timing, the U.S. Senate introduced a bipartisan resolution the day prior to the announcement of the sale, which ironically would ban the sale of certain arms to Bahrain until the country implements reform.
Last week, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the U.S. State Department approved the sale of $150 million USD (£96 million GBP) worth of “F-16 follow-on support and associated equipment” to Bahrain’s Ministry of Defense. The sale includes F-16 specific ammunition, logistical equipment, spare parts, engineering support services, and “personal and equipment training” [sic], among other items.
The DSCA states that this support is needed for Bahrain’s “aging” fleet of F-16s, which requires “increasingly expensive” maintenance, to ensure interoperability with US forces and in part due to Bahrain’s involvement in war against ISIS.
Meanwhile, US Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bipartisan resolution on 7 August calling for a renewed arms sales ban on Bahrain. The resolution raised concerns over the Bahrain Defence Force’s role in suppressing protests in 2011 and seeks to prohibit the sale of tear gas, small arms, light weapons, ammunition, Humvees and any “other items that could reasonably be used for crowd control purposes” to Bahrain. If passed, the ban would remain in place until the US Secretary of State can certify to Congress that the Government of Bahrain has “fully” implemented all 26 recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI).
The meaningful implementation of the BICI’s 26 recommendations would mean, among many other things: an end to the practice of torture; compensation for victims and their families; holding all government personnel involved in human rights violations accountable under the law; releasing political prisoners; and respecting freedoms of speech, association, and assembly. Its implementation would also mean the inclusion of Shia within the Bahrain Defence Force, which currently hires Sunnis to the almost total exclusion of any Shia, despite Shia citizens comprising approximately 60% of Bahrain’s population.
Recent developments in Bahrain show the importance of holding the Bahraini government accountable for reform. Last week, Bahrain’s only independent newspaper was suspended on vague legal charges, though they were later allowed to resume publishing following international criticism, including a statement made by the European Union. Further, the Government of Bahrain recently launched a mass arrest campaign in Sitra following an alleged bomb explosion in the village, that resulted in the death of two policemen, although the identities of those responsible have not been officially determined. Finally, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found eight additional Bahraini prisoners of conscience to be arbitrarily detained in July.
“At a time when Bahrain is hitting a new low, the U.S. is rewarding them with new arms. It wasn’t long ago when soldiers turned their guns on protesters,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at BIRD.
He added: “There is simply no evidence that the Government of Bahrain has moved past the 2011 crackdown, in terms of its both its security policy and its attitude towards protesters.”
