Bahrain's Human Rights Report Likely Absolves the GCC

By Staff Sgt Corkran F. Lee [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

by Samuel Halpert

As indicated by my last post, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the report from the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry into that country’s recent crackdown on political protests. The Commission has just released its report, and under current international law the GCC probably can’t be held accountable.

Arms Deals and Human Rights: Multi-Party Obligations in Bahrain

Flikr, Msha7welhom

By Samuel Halpert

It’s been a bad year in Bahrain. After only four days of peaceful protests for political reform last February, the army opened fire on the unarmed protesters--as well as ambulances that arrived to carry away the wounded. The carnage has continued through spring, summer, and into this fall. In August and October, Human Rights Watch documented incidents of police rounding up suspected dissidents and subsequently beating and torturing them in detention--medics who have treated victims of state violence have suffered a similar fate.

So, when the Department of Defense proposed a $53 million arms sale to Bahrain this September, the idea was unpopular with many.