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On Int’l Day of Democracy Al-Wefaq Says: Bahrainis are Paying Dearly for Demanding Democracy

2018-09-17 - 7:53 p

Bahrain Mirror: On the International Day of Democracy, September 15, the Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society stressed that the issue of the people of Bahrain is the most important and it must be supported because the people of Bahrain are paying dearly at all levels because of their demand for democracy. The country is still bleeding in all directions, despite the Bahrainis' peaceful and civilized approach in expressing their demands.

The society stressed that Bahrain's case needs a moral humanitarian stance by the countries and institutions of the world to stop the bleeding, stress the necessity of dialogue, respond to the democratic demands of Bahrainis and build a just democratic state which is the only path to stability, coexistence, development and building, through a social contract and effective and independent institutions and authorities.

Al-Wefaq said, "Seven years ago, Bahrainis took to the streets in huge numbers and in an unprecedented manner in the world, demanding the transition to democracy. They have been killed on the streets and in prisons, and horrible acts were committed, which were recorded by the Bassiouni report, the reports of the American and British foreign affairs departments and other reports of international institutions and organizations, most notably the United Nations, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others."

Al-Wefaq confirmed that the people of Bahrain are still determined and will not stop their peaceful approach, adding that they will continue to demand democracy and reject authoritarianism, tyranny and exclusivity despite everything they are being subjected to it. Al-Wefaq further said that the authorities fought every aspect and confronted it by force and by using the legal and administrative influence of the deep state in Bahrain. The authorities prevent demonstration, protest, speaking to the media and any kind of objection or criticism to a degree that they prosecute anyone who writes a tweet on Twitter criticizing their policy, Al-Wefaq added.

The authorities have recently prevented thousands of dissidents from running for office in the House of Representatives so as not to hear a voice criticizing the government in any way. However, the House of Representatives is a pretentious institution, all the sections of which are completely controlled by the authorities. The House of Representatives is fully subordinate to the authorities, which deal with it as a back room for passing their authoritarian decisions or what is related to it in order to facilitate stealing public money and dominating decisions and wealth. The authorities are the ones who manage, choose and decide in the House of Representatives through meager authoritarian mechanisms.

Al-Wefaq pointed out that on the International Day of Democracy, there are more than 4700 political prisoners held in the authorities' prisons in Bahrain because of their demands for democracy; there are hundreds of wounded and thousands of families that are torn apart by arbitrary arrests, exile, revocation of nationalities, security chases, dismissal from jobs, denial of work and scholarships, hate speech and more kinds of violations and abuses, which are committed against those demanding a transition to democracy.

Arabic Version