Policing Bahrain : the long arm of the British | openDemocracy
▻http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/john-horne-john-lubbock/policing-bahrain-long-arm-of-british
Un article sur les liens indéfectibles entre le régime bahreini et l’ancien colonisateur britannique, symbolisé par le fait que le jour de la fête nationale à #Bahreïn ne correspond pas à celui de l’indépendance vis-à-vis des Britanniques, le 14 Août (1971), mais au jour de la prise de "pouvoir" par le père de l’actuel roitelet, le 16 Décembre (1961).
L’article se focalise sur la participation- sous couvert de "formation"- du Britannique #John_Yates (et en passant celle de “#America’s_worst_cop” #John_Timoney), ex-flic de haut rang dans son pays, dans la répression à Bahreïn.
(John Yates avait été impliqué dans le scandale des écoutes illégales du tabloïd News of the World.)
On August 14th, many Bahrainis will celebrate the day in 1971 when the country gained its independence from Britain. The Bahrain government and its ruling family, however, will not, preferring instead to commemorate “National Day” on December 16th, marking the date the current King’s father began his rule in 1961. King Hamad recently went so far as to say, “for all practical and strategic purposes the British presence has not changed and it remains such that we believe we shall never be without it.” The celebrations on August 14th will thus take the form of protests demanding self-determination, democracy and human rights.
To many opposition activists, the contemporary face of British “practical and strategic purposes” in Bahrain is John Yates, the former Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner hired as an advisor to the Bahrain Ministry of Interior (MOI) in December 2011. Yates is the latest in a long line of British advisors to Bahrain, including the notorious Colonel Ian Henderson CBE who oversaw horrific torture during his tenure heading the country’s security apparatus between 1966 and 1998.