Ayatollah Issa Qassem: Bahrain normalization with 'Israel' must stop
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Qassem condemns the violation of the rights of political opponents who are currently detained in Bahrain's jails for being pro-democracy and says that even those who are released, are released in conditions that leave them physically disabled or mentally tortured.
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Bahrain's Cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassim during a speech in a masjid in Bahrain in 2013 (Reuters)
On the anniversary of Bahrain's 2011 revolt against the Al-Khalifah regime, leading opposition cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassem called the event a chance to renew vows to alter Bahrain's black and dark history.
On the night of the Revolution, and in the Iranian city of Qom on Monday, he urged Bahrain to amp up efforts for change and called out Manama for marginalizing people in Bahrain and for trying to push forward normalization with "Israel".
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He further condemned the violation of the rights of political opponents who are currently detained in Bahrain's jails for being pro-democracy, and stressed that even those who are released, are released in conditions that leave them physically disabled or mentally tortured.
Sheikh Qassim pointed out the subliminal messages in the normalization attempts saying that "Israel" is trying to exclude Muslim communities and force Western ideologies on them.
Influenced by the Saudi regime
12 years ago on February 14, 2011, anti-monarchy protestors took to the streets of Bahrain to demonstrate against the monarchy's policies and demanded the Al-Khalifah monarchy to step down, to be replaced with a democratic political system instead.
In response, the monarchy launched capture campaigns and detained those who voiced opposition against them - heavily influenced by and similar to what Saudi Arabia has been doing.
Earlier this month, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, a human rights organization concerned with reporting on and protecting human rights in Bahrain, issued a report discussing the "invisible wounds that persist in Bahraini torture victims’ psychological state and social relationships years after their mistreatment, relying on testimonies from the victims themselves, as well as a specialist who has dealt with these cases."
According to the report, the authorities, usually riot police, officers in civilian clothing, and Criminal Investigation officers, upon arresting individuals over their political or social activities, "are likely to use violence." The detainees are beaten, kicked and slapped, beaten with batons and pipes, suspended, placed in extremely cold and hot temperatures, burned, shocked, deprived of sleep, and sexually assaulted.
