The Duraz siege, instigated and maintained by the Al-Khalifa regime against peaceful protesters gathered around Sheikh Isa Qassim's house, has entered into 2017 with no relief in sight. The siege commenced in June 2016, and has now persisted unlawfully to 2017, with unlawful barricades stationed at all but two entrances, and checkpoints surrounding this small town which houses thousands of citizens and crucially the most prominent Shia religious authority in Bahrain. Note that Sheikh Isa Qassim's Bahraini nationality was arbitrarily revoked, in contravention to all international standards and agreements - despite him being the most prominent voice calling for wholly peaceful forms of protests and ensuring youth do not resort to any form of violence.

The local economy, as documented by numerous independent sources, is falling due to the military irongrip Duraz is in, whilst schools and hospitals see students, teachers, doctors and nurses struggling to reach their institutions. All whilst mercenary personnel of Bahrain regime's ever-expanding armed forces pick out one by one peaceful dissident after peaceful dissident, adding hundreds to the already thousands imprisoned in Bahrain's notorious prisons (Jau Prison and Dry Dock Prison) and ambiguous and highly secretive detention facilities. The protesters remaining in Duraz are in constant threat, with abusive and arbitrary use of force being dished out by the security forces, which can entail tear gas canisters straight to the face, beatings, arrests, and in a recurring scenario, forced confessions resulting in life imprisonment or death sentences. 

Bahrain Campaign fully believes that the regime's Western allies, the most influential of all its allies, the UK and US, watch on whilst being in a position to change the situation at an instance. Bahrain Campaign implores and demands of the UK and its US counterparts to not wait until the situation escalates to a humanitarian crisis, and intervene to stop the siege before it is too late. 

                              

The people of Bahrain are among the most oppressed nations in the Middle East. With each passing day they witness the destruction of democracy and the escalation of monarchial power. Because of the media blackout and the fact that the monarchy is disproportionately backed by the US, and the UK, the voices of the Bahraini people are subdued.

The media blackout on the harrowing events endured by the people of Bahrain, in recent years, has kept the global populous uninformed and unaware. It is without a doubt, and due to the media blackout that the situation in Bahrain deserves to be more sensibly analyzed.

1. A medieval monarchy in the 3rd millennium

The first constitution of Bahrain was drafted by Bahraini scholars and exceptional figures in 1973. However, the king changed the constitution by means of deception in 2000. The monarch made a few reforms on the surface, but was actually trying to distort the constitution by increasing his authority. In this novel situation, almost all affairs rest in the hands of the monarch. Additionally, the monarch selects the prime minister, and the ministers selected by the prime minister should be endorsed by the monarch. He also established a congress of 40 representatives to counter parliament, whose 40 members are elected by popular vote. All new members of this congress are designated by the king, and have the power to veto the resolutions set forth by the popular parliament.

2. Changing Demographics by Bringing in Immigrants

...

The British Government’s fawning on the absolute monarchs of the Gulf, whose authority is enforced by beheadings, lashings and the torture chamber, is at once contemptible and pathetic. It is a measure of Britain’s decline as a great power that it is only in tiny, toxic, sectarian Bahrain, where Sunni rulers suppress the Shia majority, that Theresa May can expect a regal reception.

May added her own few drops of venom to the raging sectarian warfare between Sunni and Shia in the region by targeting Iran. She said she was “clear-eyed” about the Iranian threat to an audience of largely fundamentalist Sunni Gulf leaders for whom the words “Iran” and “Shia” are demonic and interchangeable.

In Bahrain, the monarchy blamed the peaceful democratic uprising during the Arab Spring in 2011 on a deep-laid Iranian plot.

By Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei  5th December 2016 

Britain's prime minister and foreign secretary will soon be visiting Bahrain, an anglophile monarchy eager to woo Britain. Theresa May and Boris Johnson are in turn lured to the prospect of expanding Britain's security interests in the Arab Gulf – a goal first set upon by David Cameron – and the business opportunities that provides.

May will be attending the Gulf Cooperation Council Leaders' Summit – the annual meeting of Arab autocrats – midweek, with Johnson arriving at the end of the week to attend the Manama Dialogue, a yearly security conference which every foreign secretary since William Hague has attended.

And with these events in mind, Bahrain has been on a charm offensive. The Bahraini Foreign Minister – a cousin of Bahrain's king – has met with Johnson and MPs ahead of the events. In September Bahrain hosted Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary – for whom Bahrain's tiny economy apparently holds high enough priority for him to visit. The King of Bahrain sat next to Queen Elizabeth during her 90^th birthday celebrations, and visited Downing Street in October to personally invite May to the summit.