Bahrain; An Open Air Concentration Camp For The Shia Muslim Majority

Praise be to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ), for Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the term concentration camp as: “A camp where persons are confined, usually without hearings and typically under harsh conditions, often as a result of their membership in a group the government has identified as dangerous or undesirable.”

Historical background

From the time when Islam emerged in the 7th century until the early 16th century, the name Bahrain referred to the wider historical region of Bahrain stretching from Basrah (in modern day Iraq) to the Strait of Hormuz along the Persian Gulf coast. This was Iqlīm al-Baḥrayn, i.e. the Province of Bahrain.

Historically, at the beginning the modern day island(s) of Bahrain were ruled by various unorthodox and heretical states; from 661-750 the Umayyads, and then 750-900 Abbasids, followed by the Qarmatian rule 900-1058. Around 1058, a revolt on the island of Bahrain led by two orthodox (Shia) Muslim brothers of the Abd al-Qays tribe, Abul-Bahlul al-‘Awwam and Abu’l-Walid Muslim, opened the doors for the establishment of the orthodox (Shia) Islamic rule.

The island(s), together with entire eastern (later, “Saudi”) Arabia, and future states of Kuwait, UAE, Oman and Qatar, were then ruled by the Uyunids, Usfurids, Jarwanids and Jabrids, the last Arab Shi’ite kingdom collapsing in 16th century under the combined invasions of Portuguese Empire and the Turkish Ottomans. Both wrestled over the control of much resisting Shia population. The power vacuum that resulted was almost immediately filled by the Persian ruler, Shah Abbas I, who deployed a Persian garrison to the Bahrain Fort and subsumed it within the orthodox Muslim  Safavid Empire.

Safavid rule was a period of intellectual flowering among the orthodox Muslim theological elite, with Bahrain’s seminaries producing such magnificent Islamic scholars as Sheikh Yusuf Al Bahrani.

The orthodox Muslims once again ruled freely over themselves till 1717, when the Omani invasion began a period of political instability and a quick succession of outside rulers took power with consequent destruction. According to a contemporary account by esteemed Islamic theologian, Sheikh Yusuf Al Bahrani, due to the Kharijite Omani rule, much of the country was burnt to the ground. The weakened Persians finally regained the control over the island to lose it once again to the most disastrous event in the island’s history, the invasion of Wahhabis in 1783.

The arrival of Sunni al-Khalifa’s and the opposition to their puppet rule

Since that day on and to dismay of a local population, Bahrain has been turned into an open air concentration camp for the indigenous, orthodox (Shia) Muslim majority by the foreign, minority Sunni absolute monarchy of al-Khalifa’s, under the watchful eye of British and American governments that treat the country as their colony-protectorate.

Knowing early on that their absolute monarchy will be protected from external threats by the Westerners, the psychopathic Sunni family initiated a campaign of a slow but brutal genocide of the island’s Shia Muslim majority.

Unrest amongst the native people of Bahrain began when Britain officially established complete dominance over the territory in 1892. The first revolt and widespread uprising took place in March 1895 against Isa bin Ali al-Khalifa, then usurping Sunni tyrant of Bahrain. Sir Arnold Wilson, Britain’s representative in the Persian Gulf and author of The Persian Gulf, arrived in Bahrain from Mascat at this time. The uprising, although initially gaining momentum, was eventually crushed with the help of the British soldiers; constantly reoccurring motif in the future.

British appointed governors of the island (“ruling” Sunni al-Khalifas were just mere puppets for London), against the wishes and will of the orthodox Muslim majority, started enforcing Westernisation policies aimed at turning the island from its Arab (Shi’ite) Muslim roots into a modernised, Western-like colony benefiting the Europeans. To further consolidate its power, British Royal Navy moved its entire Middle Eastern command from Bushehr in Iran to Bahrain in 1935. After World War II, increasing anti-British sentiment spread throughout the Arab World and led to riots in Bahrain.

Post war time brought a new period calling for the end of British interference and political reforms. While immigrant Sunnis faithfully served their British overlords, majority orthodox (Shia) Muslim indigenous population sought freedom from the foreign oppressors. Strikes and riots continued during the 1960s, now under the leadership of the National Liberation Front and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, the Bahraini section of the Arab Nationalist Movement.

In March 1965, an uprising broke out, called the March Intifada, against the British presence in Bahrain. The spark of the riots was the laying off of hundreds of Bahraini workers at the Bahrain Petroleum Company. Several orthodox Muslim people died at the hands of Sunni security apparatus overseen by the British.

The British Chief of Tortures aka the Butcher of Bahrain

(Video description; 1 July 1964, Henderson being deported back to the UK from Kenya after the latter’s independence from the United Kingdom)

The ruling unorthodox Sunni regime actively employed the British before and after the de jure “independence” in 1971. Ian Henderson, a British police officer known for his role in brutally “resolving” the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the late 1950s, managed in Bahrain the Sunni regime’s General Directorate for State Security Investigations from 1966–1998. Back in Kenya, Henderson was dubbed the Chief of Torturers for his “sophisticated” methods of dealing with anti-colonial rebels, such as pouring petrol over them and setting them on fire creating this way “human torches.” After being expelled from the country at the onset of its hard earned independence, he became the Butcher of Bahrain due to torture and the numerous human rights violations that took place under his command there, especially during 1990s uprising in Bahrain. Men, women, children nobody from the Shia majority was spared the “honours” of Henderson’s “interrogation techniques”; from mental and psychological abuse, to physical such as using power drills during the torture sessions (Henderson’s own idea). For his fabulous job of ruining the lifes of hundreds of thousands of native Bahrainis who just asked for basic human rights, he was honoured by Sunni regime with The Order of Shaikh ‘Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa (Wisam al-Shaikh ‘Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa) Exceptional Class (2000), The Order of Bahrain (Wisam al-Bahrein) 1st Class (1983) and The Medal of Military Merit (Wissam al-Khidmat al-Askari) 1st Class (1982), in addition to multiple British awarded  distinctions for his outstanding performance in torturing to death thousands of Kenyans and Bahrainis. He died in 2013 at peace never answering for his horrendous genocidal crimes in Kenya and Bahrain. 

(Video description; Date unknown, possibly circa 2000, newsletter about Henderson’s previous activities in Kenya and, at that time, in Bahrain)

“Blind Eye to the Butcher”, 2002. Carlton documentary about British police officer Ian Henderson who tortured indigenous Shia Bahrainis as head of Sunni regime’s secret police (1966-1998)

The facade of constitutional monarchy; intensification of indigenous Shia Muslim genocide

In 1971, the island de jure became independent from Britain, de facto still being ruled by the foreign Sunni Western puppets. The permanent Royal Navy presence in Bahrain ended and against the native’s wishes, the United States Navy moved onto the 10 acres (40,000 m²) previously occupied by British operations. The installation later grew into Naval Support Activity Bahrain, headquarters for the United States Fifth Fleet.

Based on its new constitution, Bahraini men elected its first National Assembly in 1973 (although Article 43 of the 1973 Constitution states that the Assembly is to be elected by “universal suffrage”, the conditional clause “in accordance with the provisions of the electoral law” allowed the Sunni regime to prevent women from participating). Although the elected orthodox Muslim Assembly and then unorthodox Sunni foreigner Isa ibn Salman al-Khalifa quarrelled over a number of issues (foreign policy; the U.S. naval presence, and the budget), the biggest clash came over the State Security Law (SSL). The elected orthodox (Shia) Muslim Assembly refused to ratify the Sunni regime’s-sponsored law, which allowed, among other things, the arrest and detention of people for up to three years, (renewable) without a trial.

On 25 August 1975, the ruling Sunni puppet dissolved the elected Assembly. The Western puppet then ratified the State Security Law by decree, and suspended those articles in the constitution dealing with the legislative powers of the Assembly. In that same year, the Sunni tyrant established the State Security Court, whose judgments were not subject to appeal. Sunni Al-Khalifa’s subsequently refused to allow the Assembly to meet again or hold elections during their lifetime. The next parliamentary elections were held in 2002 after a gap of 27 years.

The State Security Law of 1974 was a law used by the government of Bahrain to crush political unrest from 1974 until 2001. Previously, it was during this period that the worst human rights violations and torture took place. The State Security Law contained measures permitting the government to arrest and imprison individuals without trial for a period of up to three years for loosely defined and open to interpretation “crimes relating to state security”. A subsequent Decree to the 1974 Act invoked the establishment of State Security Courts, adding to the conditions conducive to the practice of arbitrary arrest and torture. The deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain reached its height during the desperate uprising in the mid-1990s when thousands of men, women and children were illegally detained, torture and ill-treatment of detainees were a normality, and trials carried out by kangaroo courts fell short of international standards.

Throughout the 1990’s, human rights further deteriorated. On 5 December 1994, the Sunni regime arrested prominent orthodox Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ali Salman, after he called for the restoration of the National Assembly. After tortures, he was then expelled to Dubai and the UK. Later he returned to Bahrain to be detained, tortured and sentenced to life in prison in 2018. A group of orthodox youths clashed with police after throwing stones at female runners during an international marathon for running bare-legged. The ruling Sunni, Isa al-Khalifa, died in March 1999, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Prominent orthodox Muslim Sheikh al-Jamri was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in July 1999, but then pardoned by the new usurper.

2000’s till now; Sunni lying and further genocide 

Short lived changes in 2001, brought about false hopes for the indigenous orthodox Bahrainis. In November 2001, US president George W. Bush’s administration designated Bahrain as a “major non-NATO ally“. Bahrain negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States in 2004.

In 2006, British Sudanese whistleblower working for the Sunni regime in Bahrain revealed publicly that the regime officials in the country sought to foment sectarian strife and marginalise the indigenous majority Shia community in the country. The conspiracy was led and financed by Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and head of the Civil Informatics Organization and member of the immigrant Al Khalifa family.

In 2011, sick of corruption, sectarianism and the lack of basic human rights, hundreds of thousands of people went into the streets peacefully marching for changes. The Western puppet regime unable to forcibly and violently break up the protests through arbitrary detentions, threats and tortures, desperately called for the outside help. On 14 March, Saudi-led GCC forces were requested by the Sunni regime and entered the country, literally driving tanks over peacefully protesting indigenous Bahrainis. Since that time till now, Bahrain witnesses reality similar to that during the 1960’s-2001 era. Shia opposition parties are banned, sham elections allow for electing previously hand picked “opposition” non-Shias such as Sunnis and other foreigners to the rubber stamp Assembly, arbitrary detentions without trials are a normality, sentencing minors and adults even for minor offences carries life in prison and tortures, censorship of media is widespread and free speech is non-exciting. Against the wishes of the indigenous orthodox (Shia) Muslims, the ruling foreign Sunni regime legalised prostitution and brothels, nightclubs, alcohol. Sunni ruled Bahrain became known as as “the Las Vegas of the Gulf”, where Saudi and Qatari Wahhabis can indulge in vice and sinful behaviours without limits. All under the watchful eye of the consequent British and American governments.

The following documentaries show the genocidal reality of life in Bahrain for the indigenous Shia majority:

Education and curriculum 

The education system and it’s institutions serve no other purpose than to consolidate the power of a ruling Sunni regime. Despite the fact that indigenous Bahrainis adhere to the orthodox Islamic teachings, the public schools teach unorthodox curriculum on only Sunni religion and its jurisprudence. The schools in Shia majority areas are purposefully underfunded, lacking in resources and qualified teaching staff, while the ones in Sunni areas are on pair with the Western educational standards. The principals in majority Shia areas are almost always Sunni, usually imported from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. There’s over 400 of such government paid “teachers” whose mission is to spread anti-Shia sectarianism. The “dumbing down” of majority Shia population is a Sunni regime’s technique to further debilitate it, making the life in modern Bahrain so impossible for the indigenous orthodox Muslims, they they either have to live in generational poverty, emigrate or convert to the unorthodox Sunni religion in order to have basic human rights.

Judicial system

The judicial system and it’s institutions serve no other purpose than to consolidate the power of a ruling Sunni regime. The judges in Bahrain are usually foreign Sunni contract judges imported from other Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia or Egypt. They issue verdicts in accordance with the Sunni regime’s wishes and wants, and are expected always to pass down harsh penalties, even for the minor acts, on the native orthodox Muslim Bahrainis. Within their lucrative timely tenure, in order to have it extended, they have to sentence as many people as possible. Therefore their “work” isn’t judged on the quality of the rulings, but the quantity. With almost no exceptions, cases in the Bahraini courts have predetermined guilty verdicts. There is no presumption of innocence nor can the defendants adequately represent themselves or consult counsel. Bahrain courts are nothing more or less than a kangaroo courts that resemble in its show trial practices and ways of operating their Nazi court and Soviet Stalinist court counterparts. In short, the sentence is known beforehand. Severe tortures are a normal part of the process before and after sentencing. No native or foreign orthodox (Shia) Muslims can be judges in Bahrain.

Just as the courts, the security apparatus in Bahrain is entirely dominated by the foreign unorthodox Sunnis. Sunni Syrians, Saudis, Qataris and even Pakistanis immediately have their Bahraini citizenships given if they agree to serve blindly the ruling Sunni regime. Arbitrary detentions without any trial and severe tortures against the indigenous Bahrainis are a normal party of Sunni police’s conduct and proceedings. Neither women nor underage children are immune to any forms of severe mistreatments. No native or foreign orthodox (Shia) Muslims can be policemen/policewoman in Bahrain. Shias are also barred from joining official armed forces, that is again, dominated by the foreign Sunnis.

Native orthodox (Shia) Muslims, who constitute majority of the Bahraini citizens, as well as Iranian Sunnis, are barred from living within the city limits of Riffa – the second largest city in the country. Riffa is designed to be exclusively Sunni Arab city, and a refugee point for the ruling Sunni regime.

It’s worth mentioning that the British and American governments routinely and consequently train, equip and often even personally (!) overview the Sunni system of unimaginable oppression in Bahrain. For example, in May 2018, one of the NGO’s that focuses on human rights abuses (in Bahrain) released a detailed, 100-page report on the UK’s active role in brutal crackdown on dissidents within Bahrain. Another one from 2019 describes in detail systematic torture, humiliation, physical and mental abuse as well as rape of innocent Bahraini  women only  “because of beliefs” they hold. We urge all our visitors to read it. Viewer discretion is advised due to brutal and cruel nature of Shia Muslim abuse in Bahrain.

Media

The country’s media and it’s institutions serve no other purpose than to consolidate the power of a ruling Sunni regime. There’s no free press or freedom of speech in Bahrain. Television, magazines, newspapers and radio stations are all staffed with the non-Shias namely the Sunnis, almost always foreign born. Internet is tightly controlled by the regime. Any criticism of domestic or foreign policies leads to an automatic arrest and persecution not only for the accused, but also their entire families.

Bahraini TV broadcasts the Friday prayers from Sunni temples but never covers the Shi’ite Muslim Friday prayers. All the government sponsored TV stations, spread anti-Shia rhetoric and engage in an open smear campaign against the indigenous Bahrainis.

Characters in television series use a distinct Sunni dialect whereas that of native Baharnah is completely ignored.

Erasing Bahrain’s historical Shia identity 

In order to further consolidate its grip on power, the ruling Sunni regime resorts to erasing Bahrain’s historical Shia identity. Since 2011, hundreds of Shia mosques all over the country had been demolished. Among those destroyed was the ornate 400-year-old Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque in Aali. One of the most famous Islamic shrines which was destroyed was that belonging to Bahraini Muslim spiritual leader, Sheikh Abdul Amir al-Jamri, who died in 2006. Its golden dome had been removed. Graffiti insulting the orthodox (Shia) Muslims was also left on some of the desecrated mosques. The Sasa’a bin Sawhan Mosque in Askar, an ancient mosque and mausoleum which dates to shortly after the death of last Prophet, was also damaged.

In addition to destroying hundreds of orthodox (Shia) Muslim mosques, burning Quran in the process, even Bahraini educational system engages in cultural genocide against the indigenous Bahrainis. Public schools, for example, not only teach the unorthodox Sunni version of history, they also claim Bahraini historical native Shia dynasties as their own.

The ruling Sunni regime also engages in demographic genocide, stripping native orthodox (Shia) Muslims of their citizenships, while at the same time massively awarding it to the loyal foreigners at the border. There’s tens of thousands of non-native Sunnis, Christians, Hindus and Westerners living in the country.

According to the very first, official governmental census from 22 January 1941, 83% of Bahrainis were orthodox (Shia) Muslims. Since then, the Sunni regime does not collect information on religious belonging as to further manipulate the island’s demographics. The modern day unofficial estimations cite the number of orthodox (Shia) Muslims in the country at between 60% and 70%, which clearly indicates that since the official census of 1941, the indigenous and native Shia population decreased by anywhere between 13% to 23% due to tortures, extrajudicial killings, forced conversions, enforced deportations, “loosing” citizenships and so on. Those are the official numbers. Our readers should keep in mind that the native and indigenous (Shia) Muslims of Bahrain made up 100% of island’s population before the Sunni’s invasion in 1783. From that year till today, the overall native Shi’ite demographics records an astonishing drop by between 30-50% in just 150 years, while the massively favoured and imported foreign Sunni population noticed a demographic increase from 0% in 1783, to 17% in 1941, to 30-40% in the 21 century. All under the watchful eye of the British and American protectors of the al-Khalifa regime.

Support for terrorism

Below the “rainbow nation” and “counter-terrorism” facade that the Sunni regime portrays, the regime is actively supporting terrorism domestically and abroad (see for details Zabad 2017, p. 152, 153, 154). In 2003, at the onset of invasion of Iraq, it wanted to grant asylum to the butcher of Iraq, Saddam Hussein.  The Sunni tyrant responsible for the deaths (not including Iraq-Iran war and the invasion of Kuwait) of over 400,000 native Shia Iraqis. Since the announcement of an ISIS “Caliphate” in 2014, Sunni Bahraini lawmakers, politicians and even the ruling family members openly voiced their support for the terror organisation and its “victories” against innocent Shia Iraqi civilians. Sunni jihadists often boast publicly about their collusion with the Bahraini security apparatus. On the other hand, even staging a silent, peaceful sit in ends up with mass arrest and torture of Shia Bahrainis. In addition of becoming a safe heaven for the Sunni jihadists, the regime regularly invites sectarian pro-terrorist Sunni sheikhs to preach in the state mosques.

In July 2019, a documentary by Qatar’s pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera has revealed that Bahrain recruited al-Qaeda terrorists to take out dissidents inside the Arab country and conduct terrorist attacks in Iran.

The documentary, titled “Playing with fire” and aired by Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language news channel, said Bahraini intelligence officers were in direct contact with al-Qaeda terrorists and organized them into a terrorist cell to take out Shia figures inside Bahrain.

It exposed what it said were recorded communications between Bahraini intelligence officials and the al-Qaeda members and said the operations were authorized by Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa himself.

The documentary said the king intervened personally to ensure the success of the operations.

Al-Khalifas and their Sunni religion

Al-Khalifas are such a pious adherents of the Sunni religion, that they allow alcohol, prostitution and brothels to be all legal. Ruling Sunni family legalised homosexuality in 1976. They also massively import non-Muslims (Christians, Hindus, Sikhs) to change the Islamic nature of Bahrain. In August 2020, a Shia woman was arrested for smashing Hindu idols. Sunni regime has no issue with polytheist Hinduism, while at the same time it carries on the Muslim genocide. Destruction of hundreds of mosques, with so many cases of Holy Qurans being burnt in the process, also isn’t a problem for them. Neither is relying on Western powers to keep them immune from any persecution. 

Conclusion

Since the disastrous Wahhabi invasion in 1783, the native and indigenous Shia Muslim population of Bahrain is being slowly ethnically and religiously cleansed by the foreign Sunni invaders. Enormous and unimaginable generational suffering, under the watchful eyes and with active participation, of the British and American officials that oversee the whole process of legalised genocide.

Sources used

Nasr, Vali. The Shia Revival (Updates). W. W. Norton & Company, 2016. 336 pages. ISBN 9781324001058.

• Vali Nasr is Dean and Professor of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Zabad, Ibrahim. Middle Eastern Minorities: The Impact of the Arab Spring. Taylor & Francis, 2017. 268 pages. ISBN 9781317096733.

• Ibrahim Zabad is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Co-director of the International Studies Program at St. Bonaventure University in Western New York.

BIRD: Bahrain Institute for Rights & Democracy.  Training Torturers: The UK’s Role in Bahrain’s Brutal Crackdown on Dissent. May, 2018. 

• Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei is the director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD). Mr Alwadaei was granted refugee status in the UK in 2012 in recognition of the dangers he faced in Bahrain. While in London, Mr Alwadaei has continued to fight for the rights of torture victims and prisoners sentenced to death for peacefully protesting against the Bahraini regime. The family of Mr Alwadaei has been subjected to numerous human rights violations by the Bahraini authorities in response to BIRD’s work, including arbitrary detention, unfair trial, ill-treatment and torture.The United Nations working group on arbitrary detention concluded that Mr Alwadaei’s family were “deprived of their liberty, interrogated and prosecuted for their family ties with Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei and that these were acts of reprisal”. The Bahraini government responded with a smear campaign of false and misleading information about Mr Alwadaei and his family.

BCHR: Bahrain Center for Human Rights. No Right to Rights: A Report into Human Rights Violations Committed by BAHRAINI Authorities. June, 2018.

Amnesty International:Bahrain, Human Rights Watch: Bahrain, Freedom House: Bahrain.

***

And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it]. [2:42]