Category Archives: IHRC

IHRC beams protest images onto Houses of Parliament and Bahraini embassy

In response to last week’s execution by the Bahraini government of three of its own citizens IHRC staged a double protest at the Houses of Parliament and the Bahraini Embassy in London.

Huge images bearing messages condemning the executions and the British government’s continued support for the authoritarian island monarchy were beamed onto both buildings last Friday night (19 January) in order to raise political and public awareness.

The giant messages (see attached photos) were set against the backdrop of the Bahraini flag and the faces of the three executed men, Abbas al-Samea, 27, Ali al-Singace, 21, and Sami Mushaima 42. All had been found guilty of planting a bomb which killed three policemen but their convictions were widely seen as politically motivated, based on retracted confessions and mired in allegations of serious torture.

Britain continues to politically and militarily support the Bahraini regime despite a well-documented history of human rights abuses against its citizens and reform campaigners.

A report commissioned by the Bahraini government (the BICI report) documenting the events of an uprising in 2011 revealed systematic torture, arbitrary detentions, and extra judicial killing in the streets. Although the Bahraini government accepted the report and promised to implement its recommendations, their implementation has been woefully inadequate. Professor Cherif Bassiouni, the head of the BICI team, wrote in June last year that most of the reforms had not been fully implemented.

Things actually seem to be getting worse. The country’s only remotely critical newspaper, Al Wasat, which was shut down in 2011, has now been ordered by the government to close its online edition too after criticising the executions.

Earlier this year Bahrain announced that it was reversing one of the BICI reforms which stipulated that the National Security Agency (NSA) have its powers of arrest removed. The power separation was considered important in controlling torture.

Despite these developments, last December PM Theresa May flew to Bahrain to meet with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council on the sidelines of the organisation’s latest summit. The visit demonstrated a glaring disregard for human rights and also a dangerous message of approval to the al-Khalifa dictatorship.

A month earlier Britain opened its first military base in the Gulf in Bahrain, the first in the region since 1971. The base will be used by special forces and Navy destroyers, frigates and minehunters to help prop up the region’s autocrats. Britain also supplies Bahrain with military equipment and training which have been used to suppress indigenous uprisings and pro-reform protests.

Likewise the British government remains an unflinching backer of the Saudi Arabian government whose troops are stationed on the island in order to protect the regime against any threats to its rule.

IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh said: “The extra-judicial murder of the three Bahrainis has once again highlighted the brutal nature of the al-Khalifa regime. It is high time that the British government stopped becoming an accomplice to the suppression and abuse of fundamental human rights. The British government’s contention that economic interests in the region are important should not be used as an excuse for us to acquiesce in the continuing torture and oppression of the Bahraini people.”

Check the images.

Genocide Memorial Day 2017 London

On Sunday, 15 January 2017 Islamic Human Rights Commission held their annual Genocide Memorial Day conference for the 7th year running since its inception in 2010. This year’s theme was “Lessons from the Cultural Genocide of Muslims and Jews in Europe”. A parallel event also took place in Brussels on the same day.

Held at the P21 Gallery, the event was attended by a number of activists and academics as well as those who were simply curious to learn more about the topic of genocide. The conference was opened with recitation from the Quran followed by English translation.

Raza Kazim, Head of Campaigns at IHRC, provided an opening statement where he emphasised the importance of challenging the narrative that some victims matter more than others dependant on their background. Also he mentioned that genocide doesn’t happen in a vacuum and left us with an open question: What is the environment that it occurs in?

Chaired by Nazim Ali, the first panel featured Dr Rebecca Masterton and Sheikh Azmi Hamid of Malaysia. Rebecca Masterton, is a British Islamic scholar, educator, public speaker, academic and author of several academic articles. She is also the director and tutor at Online Shia Studies. She made a fascinating contribution as she discussed the history of the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain; including how the education system teaches this period of history, and how this miseducation impacts the European culture we live in today. She also made it clear that Europe is blind to its history and needs to be decolonised.

Following Dr Masterton, Sheikh Mohammad Azmi bin Abdul Hamid of Malaysia spoke of what is currently happening to the minority Rohingya population in Myanmar, suggesting that there is strong evidence for genocide. Massacres in Myanmar are being deliberately orchestrated and hidden from the international community. However, people are not just being killed – everything relating to the community is being erased as well. Stating the severe decrease in population figures was a sombre and frightening wake up call for the audience.

Narjis Khan then performed a rendition of her moving poem ‘Red blood spills’ which mentions the various interventionist wars taking place across the globe on behalf of the likes of the USA and the UK. The winners of the annual poetry competition for children ages 11-18 were then announced. Anisha Mehta with ‘Stand By’ and Tarzina Khatun with ‘Ship 1971’ were the winners of the first prize. They were awarded with an all-expenses paid trip to Bosnia. Second prize was jointly awarded to Ifrah Bukhari for ‘The Subhuman’ and Shukria Rezaei for ‘My Hazara People’. They each received a £50 IHRC Bookshop voucher. Finally, third prize was awarded to Luqman Reza for his poem ‘One Dimension.

The final speaker of the day was Ramon Grosfoguel, a professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He spoke about the links between the rise of Islamophobia and genocide. He explicitly addressed how genocide is not just killing humans but destruction and appropriation of knowledge i.e an epistemicide.

Lastly, a minute of silence was held in remembrance as the names and numbers of a various genocidal acts over the last two centuries were read aloud. This part of the event has become a regular feature but hearing it every year does not lessen the impact. The extent of cruelty humanity can achieve is laid bare for all to see. The attendees, as well as the speakers, participated in a one minute silence in order to commemorate the various genocides that have happened across the globe.

Raza Kazim, concluded the conference by thanking the attendees, volunteers and stating very clearly that it is necessary to have an event like Genocide Memorial Day in order to remember those who have been forgotten.

Genocide Memorial Day 2017: Quran Recitation & Introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-UPn6APZ7w

Genocide Memorial Day 2017: The Expulsion of Jews & Muslims from Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI3FYaMVAQI

Genocide Memorial Day 2017: The Genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanamar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_6MPP8HP4c

Genocide Memorial Day 2017: Cultural Genocide & Structural Knowledge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM4qCZHHqKw

Genocide Memorial Day 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpAMrmIfWz0

Genocide Memorial Day 2017: Q&A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al8FCayvhyI