Parliament: Anti-torture groups object to visit by Bahrain's Emir

HUMAN RIGHTS

A STATE visit to Britain by the new Emir of Bahrain was at the centre of a dispute last night with anti-torture groups calling for ministers to raise human rights issues with the leader.

Two groups, Article 19 and the Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture, and the UK-based Bahrain Human Rights Organisation, wrote letters protesting about the visit.

The Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who arrived on Monday, was due to meet the Queen and Tony Blair during his first visit to Britain since the death of his father earlier this year. The British government believes the Emir should be given time to address calls for an end to torture, and to reintroduce democracy to the tiny Gulf state, whose National Assembly was dissolved in 1975.

Although human rights organisations say some improvements have been made, their letters said that serious abuses were still taking place.

In particular, Article 19 - whose name refers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - said there had been a recent ban on religious activity by some groups, during which security forces had surrounded at least one mosque during prayers. They also said a National Assembly member and leading pro-democracy campaigner, Sheikh Abdel Amir al-Jamri, had his house stormed by security officers in September while he was held there after his release in July from a long imprisonment.

The World Organisation Against Torture said only a few hundred of the thousands detained under State Security laws in the past 25 years had been charged. Some were held for up to three years.

"The violation of human rights in Bahrain is extremely serious and can only be effectively addressed by the Bahraini authorities.... We urge you to discuss these matters with Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa during his visit and to ensure appropriate action is taken."

Despite these concerns, Britain maintains close links with Bahrain and regards it as strategically important. Robin Cook's Parliamentary Private Secretary, Ken Purchase, heads the All-Party Bahrain Group and makes regular trips there with MPs, paid for by a lobbyist, Omar al-Hassan. Last month Mr Purchase visited Bahrain with a group of MPs.

Bahrain's state security forces are run by a British ex-colonel, Ian Henderson. Last night, in a Channel 4 film, former prisoners said they had been tortured by Henderson.

"They trussed me up like a chicken for fifteen minutes. They take you and bend you double and handcuff you. They insert a wooden rod and they suspend you," one prisoner said. Others said Henderson's officers had set dogs on them.

t Banned leg irons have been exported from Britain with the knowledge of Customs and Excise officials who were powerless to stop the trade, an MP told the House of Commons.

Because the irons were shipped as components and were not connected to their chains, it was quite legal to ship them without a licence, said David Chidgey, the Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh.

A ban announced in 1997 had not been backed up with changes to the law, Mr Chidgey said, in the debate on the Queen's Speech. His comments followed the revelation in The Independent last week that leg irons with "Made in England" on them were openly on sale in the United States.