Bahrain Mirror: Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain accused the US President Donald Trump of giving their blessing for the security operation launched by the Bahraini government today (May 23, 2017) on the village of Diraz, which left one protestor killed and dozens of others injured.

ADHRB said that the Government of Bahrain made this move two days after the Bahraini King's meeting with Trump, stressing that what is taking place is not a coincidence. The group further noted that Washington supports its ally Bahrain unconditionally, despite the grave human rights violations committed by the regime, for the sake of its interests in the region and in return for multi-billion-dollar military deals.

The HR group said that the Bahraini government launched the attack on peaceful protestors in Diraz with a US blessing and a green light given by its western allies.

ADHRB added that the Diraz raid came two days after Trump's speech, in which he openly expressed his support for Bahrain and his Gulf friends, encouraging them to "fight terrorism," ignoring the fact that these countries promote terrorism and oppress their people.

The group further stated that the Gulf countries made made multi-billion-dollar deals with Washington so that it would turn a blind eye to the crimes they commit and continue to support them.

ADHRB said that Bahrain must stop the attack on Diraz immediately, stressing that it is imperative that the international community vehemently condemn this extremely destabilizing course of action.

In a joint statement, signed by ADHRB, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) and European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR), the groups strongly condemned the the lethal raid on Diraz, as well as the judicial harassment of Sheikh Isa Qassim.

The HR groups also announced that they are gravely concerned by the Bahraini government's increasing use of excessive and deadly force to target peaceful protests and suppress dissent, urging the Government of Bahrain to immediately end its violent attack on Bahraini civil society.

"With the Trump administration's blessing, Bahraini authorities are brutally stamping out any semblance of opposition and - in effect - making free expression, assembly, and belief capital crimes. It is imperative that the international community vehemently condemn this extremely destabilizing course of action," said Husain Abdulla, Executive Director of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

For his part, Sayed Alwadaei, the Director of Advocacy at BIRD, said, "the tragic death of a peaceful protester in the crackdown in Diraz this morning follows Trump's meeting with Bahrain's authoritarian king last weekend in Riyadh," highlighting that "in this meeting Trump effectively gave Hamad a blank cheque to continue the repression of his people." He further stressed that "the US administration has blood on its hands for providing arms unconditionally to the Bahraini regime during an intensified repressive campaign on civil society in Bahrain."

Arabic Version