[PBS] Treatment of jailed Bahrain dissidents called ‘brutal,’ as activists call for U.S. action

Inside Story - Bahrain stability in jeopardy

[UN News Center] Bahrain trials bear marks of ‘political persecution,’ says UN human rights office

I joined Avaaz, a petition website some months back because I wanted to sign to prevent homosexuality becoming punishable by death in Uganda. They’ve been bombarding me with notifications about petitions that I “must” sign ever since. I do read them, but most of them I ignore because they seem to be pointless campaigns over little things that they’re going about the wrong way. The latest message has really ticked me off:

They’re patting themselves on the back for getting Formula 1 to pull out of the Bahrain Grand Prix this year in order to boycott their trade in drugs. I have a series of issues with this.

1. Seriously? You think that taking away their rights to host Formula 1 (which they don’t even have a driver in) is going to bring down their vast drug empire. It’s pretty much like cricket disowning Zimbabwe. Mugabi was not particularly upset.

2. You’ve pulled an entire sport, which has drivers, technicians, teams and fans from all around the world, into a fight which wasn’t theirs. Bahrain has been the opening race for quite a few seasons, so every time that they go there, will they be expected to comment on their political stance on it? They’re sportsmen, not politicians.

3. You’ve damaged the sport. If this is a permanent fixture until the drugs business goes, then they’ve lost a race, because I don’t see the problem disappearing. You messed the teams about this year because they called it off so close to the actual day that all the gear was in mid-air, which has probably affected at least one team this season. You’ve also annoyed sports fans around the world. Not every country holds a Grand Prix, so many fans at Bahrain wouldn’t have been nationals of the country, but have lost their nearest race.

4. Honestly, practically all countries do drugs of some kind. Bahrain is just more open about it than others. It’s not as if the racers are partaking and the Bahrain Grand Prix was damaging the sport in any way.

I do agree that Bernie Eccleston is about as money grabbing as they come, but people loved Bahrain and you’ve ruined it for them, and it was clear that Bahrain meant a lot more than any money involved. You’re little hissy fit at F1 has only made people upset and to be honest, you were always going to be pissing in the wind with this one.

[PBS] Treatment of jailed Bahrain dissidents called ‘brutal,’ as activists call for U.S. action