Bahrainis no longer afraid of Al Khalifa: Colin Cavell

Press TV has conducted an interview with Colin Cavell, former lecturer with the University of Bahrain, about the main Bahraini opposition party saying crackdown on pro-democracy activists has intensified.

What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Now two hundred and fourteen anti-regime protesters arrested. Not only is this crackdown on dissent going unpunished but it is also going unnoticed, wouldn’t you agree?

Cavell: Absolutely and just to give you an indication of the silent here in the West in the media, just look at the number of people that are continuously reported killed in Bahrain, it has been at eighty for the last year and a half.

The West just does not want to go over that figure, even though those on the ground know very well that we have had over a hundred and fifty to two hundred people at least killed but they do not want to report that anymore because of the regime’s harsh crackdown, it’s imprisonment of anybody who speaks out for human rights and calls for democracy and its torture policies.

So there is a very harsh crackdown going on but what is amazing is the will of the people. They are no longer afraid of the Al Khalifa family and they are fighting back and they are on the streets on a daily basis. It is truly impressive what they are doing.

Press TV: But also is interesting to notice that the Bahraini regime is trying to form a national committee on humanitarian law. It is kind of ironic that this is the very regime that has prosecuted doctors and nurses for treating protesters that were injured by the regime’s forces in their crackdown?

Cavell: Yes, what the Bahraini regime has learned through its foreign advisory companies like McKinsey & Company etc. is how to play the Western media.

What you need to do is you issue reports from time to time, talking about human rights and how we are going to set up a commission to study human rights or we are going to have a dialogue but of course as we have seen in Bahrain, not anything is accomplished because there is no intention to give any type of concessions to the majority of the people.

The Khalifa regime is entrenched and they want to rule with an iron fist and they know how to play the Western media.

That is why they have … retainer over sixteen public relations firms not only in the United States but also in London to make sure any detrimental news about Bahrain does not reach the public.