07 Feb 2012 GDN
A British politician has been accused of attempting to damage the centuries-old relations between Bahrain and the UK. Labour MP Denis MacShane has made several "demonstrably misconceived" statements from London about the political situation without visiting the country, said Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.
"We could not agree more with Mr MacShane about the urgency of reform. The difficulty, however, does not lie with the will and acts of the government," he said in a 17-page open letter to British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
"Ever since the unrest in Bahrain abated at the end of March 2011, and even before (Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry) BICI issued its report, the government took significant, proactive actions to address the human rights violations."
Shaikh Khalid said the government's actions were continuing "at as rapid pace as is possible" and said false claims about Bahrain's handling of the unrest went against its positive 200-year relationship with Britain.
"Credibility in international relations depends on reciprocity and mutual respect," he said.
"This requires that statements are meticulously checked for factual accuracy."
Referring to the loss of life during last year's unrest, Shaikh Khalid said the BICI report found the state was responsible for 19 of the 35 deaths and not 50 as had been claimed by Mr MacShane.
"Each death is regrettable and one too many. However, it is simplistic to call the events of Bahrain an 'uprising' or characterise it as government mass and indiscriminate murder," he said.
"The events in Bahrain and my government's ongoing, genuine and good-faith efforts to put matters right and promote reform and reconciliation, simply do not bear comparison to those elsewhere in the region."
Shaikh Khalid said that before the BICI report was published last November, charges had already been brought against 20 officers relating to the death, torture and mistreatment of civilians.
"Twelve security officers had been prosecuted for death and injuries due to torture and mistreatment," he said.
"The Public Prosecutor is pursuing 107 cases against 48 officers for deaths, injuries and torture of civilians and this is just the first step."
Shaikh Khalid also stressed no doctor or medical staff had been charged, arrested or harmed for treating patients.
"Some doctors were arrested for committing serious criminal offences at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) such as engaging in selective treatment of patients on the basis of communal or ethnic preferences and flagrantly breaching their medical oaths," he said.
"This is extensively documented in the BICI report.
"If it were true that doctors were arrested as retribution for treating patients, then surely doctors from numerous hospitals and medical centres ought to have been arrested.
"This did not occur. The offending doctors came from one place only (SMC)."
Shaikh Khalid insisted there were no political prisoners in Bahrain and referred to the Attorney-General dropping all charges relating to freedom of speech and assembly last December.
This benefited 343 people and prosecutions were only being sought against those accused of violent crimes, he said.
Shaikh Khalid said it should be noted that despite the government's commitment to inclusive dialogue and reforms a section of society was intent on rejecting everything it did.
"While most segments of society are active participants, there is one significant holdout that not only rejects dialogue, but actively opposes it," he said, referring to Al Wefaq.
Shaikh Khalid said the government was committed to implementing the BICI recommendations by the end of the month with seven fully implemented, three others partly and "meaningful progress" on the remaining 18.
He also hit back at Mr MacShane's "false" statement that human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was "severely beaten and arrested by police in Bahrain" last month.
"There is no basis in fact to state that Mr Rajab was beaten, much less 'severely beaten' by the police," he said, referring to video footage of the incident freely available on the Internet, which showed them helping him.
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