Rights group to sue Al Khawajah

By MANDEEP SINGH

A HUMAN rights group said it will sue an anti-government campaigner in Norway and Sweden for derogatory comments she has made about Bahrain's Asian community.

Mariam Al Khawajah's claims that Asians were hired to attack anti-government protesters have made expats a target for assault, according to the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS).

The GDN reported on Friday that Indian diplomats had rubbished claims she made at a rights forum in Oslo, Norway, where she alleged Indians had been recruited as hired thugs by the Bahrain government to attack demonstrators.

She made the allegation to justify a campaign of violence waged against Bahrain's expatriate community by protesters in mid-March, which left three Bangladeshis and a Pakistani dead and hundreds of Asians injured.

Mr Fulad claimed Ms Al Khawajah made a similar allegation during an event in Sweden, while last Friday she said during a meeting in Washington, US, that Asians of unspecified nationality had attacked protesters with knives and swords.

There have been no other reports of such attacks and no evidence has been produced to back up her claims, which have since been strongly denied by the Indian and Pakistani Embassies in Bahrain.

Now the BHRWS is gathering evidence against Ms Al Khawajah to be presented to prosecutors overseas, its secretary general Faisal Fulad told the GDN yesterday.

He said there was already evidence of revenge attacks against Asians, citing two instances in which men were targeted in the street based on their ethnicity.

"She has made inflammatory statements in both countries (Norway and Sweden) and those have resulted in hate crimes against Asians in Bahrain in the last few days," Mr Fulad told the GDN.

"One Indian man was beaten up at a bus stop in Bani Jamra, while another one was attacked in a restaurant in Diraz after Ms Al Khawajah's speeches."

The GDN has also reported an attack on Indian national Shanil Kumar Onthem Parambil Pokkan, who is still in a critical condition at the BDF Hospital after being attacked in an East Riffa street on April 11 when he went out to buy eggs.

Meanwhile, fellow Indian Abdurahman Ebraheem Othayothe - who worked in a sandwich shop - was severely beaten by masked men in Eker just two days earlier on April 9.

The 44-year-old was beaten with iron rods and suffered head, shoulder and hand injuries.

He left Bahrain on April 14 because he was too afraid to stay here.

Mr Fulad said Ms Al Khawajah's comments were a direct threat to the safety of Bahrain's expat community and she must be held accountable.

"Comments she has made have led some people in Bahrain to believe all Asians are policemen and government agents who are out to target Bahrainis," he explained.

"This is not true. Thanks to Ms Al Khawajah, attacks against Asians are likely to increase. This is clearly a case for us to work on."

He added that lawyers were already studying the laws of countries where she has made such comments to build a case.

Exposing others to "hatred, contempt or loss of confidence" in Norway carries a jail sentence of up to three years, according to Norwegian law.

The GDN has previously reported hundreds of protesters went on the rampage in Manama between March 13 and 16, attacking innocent Asian civilians in their homes and on the streets.

Three Bangladeshis killed in the attacks were Muhammad Aklas Tozommul Ali, 52, Muhammed Somir Miah Late Thakur Miah, 44, and Farid Mukbul, 31.

Pakistani Abdul Malik Ghulam Rasool, 34, was killed when he and his roommates were attacked in their home.

Ms Al Khawajah is head of the foreign relations office of the defunct Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).

Her father Abdulhadi Al Khawajah is among 21 people charged with conspiring to topple the regime and having links with a foreign terrorist organisation.

In Washington last Friday, Ms Al Khawajah also claimed injured Asians were taken to hospital and treated, although witnesses and doctors have told the GDN many expats were denied treatment and even assaulted when they showed up at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) during its occupation by protesters.

mandeep@gdn.com.bh


(2011-5-19/gulf-daily-news)