Freedom House Denied Entry into Bahrain as U.S. Embassy Personnel Relocates

The U.S. State Department has warned U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to the Kingdom of Bahrain. As the one-year anniversary (February 14)  of the birth of the pro-democracy movement approaches, the U.S government has warned of potential unrest. Additionally, the U.S. embassy in Bahrain has relocated all personnel to a “safer” location due to an increase in spontanous and sometimes violent demonstrations and “isolated examples” of anti-U.S. sentiment.

Since last February, continuous pro-democracy demonstrations taken place in Bahrain and have been met with a violent government crackdown consisting of tear gas, stun grenades, and other “crowd controlling measures.” The protests  are a part of pro-democracy effort to obtain greater political rights.

The U.S. has  ”stood behind“ the Bahraini regime “contingent on the implementation of political reforms” outlined in the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report. These actions are contrary to other U.S. actions in the region considering the removal their support from other former allies in the region including departed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Despite these inconsistencies, the U.S. has remained in support of the Bahraini Monarchy, even making “an arms deal contingent on political reform.”

The pro-democracy movement in Bahrain has faced “continued repression of non-violent protests and the arrest of human rights activists.” Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, was recently denied entry into the kingdom. Days before a schedule trip to Bahrain, Freedom House received a letter from Bahraini officials denying them entry desiring to push the scheduled visit back until after the one-year anniversary.

“By denying or delaying entry to independent international NGOs, the Government of Bahrain is signaling they have something to hide,” said Robert Herman, head of the delegation that was to visit Bahrain. Bahrain has denied entry to several NGOs including Human Rights First  and Physicians for Human Rights raising suspicions about its commitment to reforms.