GOVERNMENT REACTS TO PUBLIC CRITICISM OF REGIME

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000013 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM BA POL REFORM SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT REACTS TO PUBLIC CRITICISM OF REGIME REF: A. 05 MANAMA 1916 ¶B. 05 MANAMA 1910 ¶C. 05 MANAMA 1506 Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) In response to their public statements critical of the regime, the government briefly detained Shia cleric Mohammed Al Sanad December 25 (Refs A/B) and questioned activists Ibrahim Sharif and Abdul Nabi Al Ekry December 28. In their comments to Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas in mid-December, Sharif and Al Ekry criticized the regime and gave statements that the government may have interpreted as questioning the legitimacy of Al Khalifa family rule in Bahrain. An Interior Ministry official told the press that the two were asked to clarify their statements to Al Qabas, but said they would not be prosecuted. In the face of increasingly aggressive actions from the Shia majority, the government appears determined to try to set some limits in terms of violence at demonstrations and provocative statements that question the very legitimacy of the Al Khalifa regime. End Summary. -------------- -------------- Sharif Criticizes Reforms, Cites Shia Support for Country -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Following quickly on the heels of the brief detention of Shia cleric Shaikh Mohammed Al Sanad December 25 for anti-regime statements issued from Iran (Refs A/B),the Bahrain National Security Agency (BNSA) December 28 separately summoned activists Ibrahim Sharif and Abdul Nabi Al Ekry to discuss their mid-December public comments to Kuwait newspaper Al Qabas that were critical of the government. Interior Ministry official Colonel Buhumood told the press December 29 that BNSA officials had explained to him that Sharif and Al Ekry had been called in to clarify their statements to the newspaper. He said that the BNSA officials had cautioned the two activists on the importance of understanding the legal limits of acceptable speech. He announced that the government has no intention of bringing a case to the public prosecutor. ¶3. (SBU) Sharif is the president of Al Waad ("The Promise") society, which applied for registration with the Ministry of Justice as a political society in late October and is still awaiting a response (Ref C). Formerly known as the National Democratic Action Society, Al Waad is one of the four boycotting political societies. It is a secular socialist organization with a small but influential membership. Sharif told Al Qabas that the reforms of King Hamad were "not true" and that without a partnership between the authority and the people, there would not be stability in Bahrain. He affirmed that the opposition in Bahrain has always called for reforming the regime and never suggested changing it. He refused to question the loyalty of Bahrain's Shia population, saying that it was their support that gave Bahrain its independence and affirmed the Al Khalifa as the ruling family in a 1970 UN referendum, rejecting a relationship with Iran, which had a territorial claim on Bahrain. -------------- -------------- Al Ekry Says Regime Bolsters Its Interests, Not Nation's -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Al Ekry is a board member of the Bahrain Human Rights Society and a former exile who returned to Bahrain following the King's launch of the reform process in 2000. Al Ekry organized the November "parallel" Forum for the Future conference for NGOs that took place a few days prior to the official Forum, and to which the GOB contributed some $100,000. He discussed several hot-button issues in his interview with Al Qabas, including the practice of granting citizenship to Sunnis who have worked in the military and security services, foreign laborers and their impact on unemployment, human rights, and the independence of the judiciary. ¶5. (SBU) In perhaps the most controversial comments, Al Ekry accuses the government of not being truly committed to reform. He says, "By organizing so many protests and demonstrations, the Bahraini people were able to some extent to expose the lie that Bahrain is a democracy and that it does not discriminate... The sect that the government identifies with is the one that shares its interests. There are alliances among those who benefit from the ruling regime and there are also discriminatory policies because the regime is governed by tribal and sectarian fanaticism. That is why there are discriminatory policies against Shia, those of Persian origin, tribes that are not allied with the regime, and those who hold opinions different from the state... We have freedom of expression but we cannot criticize the ruling family and the King is a taboo area." ¶6. (SBU) Following their meetings with BNSA, Sharif told the press that officials had understood from his comments to Al Qabas that he was "inciting the people against the regime," which Sharif denied. Al Ekry said that he told the BNSA that his comments should be viewed in the context of his statements over the past five years, since he returned from exile. He said, "We believe in the reform project that the King is leading, but I explained to the officials that this project must be pushed forward." -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) The accusations of Sharif and Al Ekry, combined with Al Sanad's late November statement saying that the Bahraini regime is "suffering from a lack of legal legitimacy" and declaring that the sole solution to Bahrain's political problems is "a new constitution drafted by elected Bahrainis and monitored by the UN away from the interference of the current regime," hit the government where it hurts - criticizing the regime and even questioning the legitimacy of Al Khalifa rule. Al Sanad's and Sharif's references to the 1970 UN-administered referendum on Bahrain's future also reopens an old wound. In that vote, all sectors of Bahraini society supported Bahrain's independence (from Iran) and established the Al Khalifa as the rulers of the country. Suggestions that another referendum should be held, or reminders that to some extent, the Al Khalifa owe their position to support from Bahrain's Shia, irritate the ruling family. ¶8. (C) Comment continued: The government has been fending off increasingly aggressive actions from its Shia majority for the past month, including violent clashes between demonstrators and police, the recent discovery of a cache of Molotov cocktails in a Shia neighborhood, and international pressure campaigns organized by Shia Bahraini exiles in the West. It is also concerned about the impact of events in Iran and Iraq on Bahrain's Shia community. In this context, it is increasingly edgy about opposition tactics and appears determined to try to set some limits in terms of demonstrations that turn violent and provocative statements that question the very legitimacy of the Al Khalifa regime. We expect tensions to remain elevated in the lead up to May's municipal elections and October's parliamentary elections. MONROE