Ron Wyden: “in a truly dubious distinction, this week marks the 7th year since tens of thousands of Bahraini citizens took to the…”

“in a truly dubious distinction, this week marks the 7th year since tens of thousands of Bahraini citizens took to the streets of Manama in protest. These brave men and women put themselves at great risk to demand greater access to their political system and more accountability from their government. Rather than engage these protestors in meaningful dialogue, the regime responded with violence, tear gas, and rubber bullets. After much international attention, Bahrain's King agreed to set up the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, or BICI, and to fully implement its recommended reforms. I say to the Senate today, on the seventh anniversary of the demonstrations, that the regime has not upheld this fundamental commitment. In fact, the situation has only grown worse over the past 12 months as the regime has actually taken a number of huge steps back. In January of 2017, the regime restored arrest and detainment powers to Bahrain's National Security Agency, despite that agency's past involvement in torture and coercion of political prisoners. Later in the year, the King approved a constitutional amendment allowing military courts to try Bahraini citizens, a move Amnesty International called ``disastrous'' and warned would be used to crack down on political opposition.…”