Dear Sakal,
On behalf of the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty, I write to seek your support to a petition to urge Bahrain to immediately release our friend Khalil al-Marzooq. As you may remember, Khalil is one of the leaders of the democratic opposition Al Wefaq National Islamic Society and has often-times participated in our meetings.
Khalil was arrested on 26 September last, and, unless significant political developments happen, he will have to spend 30 days of preliminary incarceration to eventually face the serious allegations of “inciting terror” after a speech he delivered on 6 September at a political rally attended by nearly 6,000 people near the village of Saar. During the speech a masked man passed near the podium and gave him a white flag which Khalil put aside. The flag allegedly symbolizes the “14 February Movement”, a network of youth groups established in 2011, which has called for the end of the monarchy. Some of the movement’s members are on trial, accused of using violence. From what we have been able to gather, Khalil’s speech re-affirmed the appeal of his party to promote reforms in a peaceful and nonviolent way.
Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch consider Khalil al-Marzooq a prisoner of conscience and, having been with him in several meetings all over Europe, we can testify that he has always promoted structural reforms and not a “regime change”. What might have started as a movement to protect the Sciite community in Bahrain has now become a platform for comprehensive reforms in a country, or a region for that matter, with serious problems of human rights violations.
For a couple of years now, the Radical Party has been collaborating with some of the most prominent members of the Bahraini political opposition among whom Khalil al-Marzooq and Jasim Husain , who has been a member of the Radical Party since 2011. On several occasions, we have facilitated further contacts with other politicians and legislators because we believe that al-Wefaq proposals correspond to what the United Nations has invited Manama to do to concretely follow up to their international obligations stemming from here adhesion to all major international instruments on human rights and her presence and participation in the UN Council on Human Rights.
Since the beginning of the demonstrations in Manama, the Bahraini government has imposed emergency laws to curb public political activities, the arrest of a prominent moderate politician may be the prelude for tougher reactions and, possibly, the beginning of a new way of facing the “street” that does not seem to be retreating despite this concerning developments.
The Nonviolent Radical Party has endorsed and re-launched a petition for the immediate release of Khalil al-Marzooq and is ready to do all it can to contribute to the cause that he and his fellow nonviolent Bahrainis hold dear: the promotion of peace and democracy in their country.
Should you wish to sign the petition please visit this page and issue a statement on his behalf
We look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes!
On behalf of the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty, I write to seek your support to a petition to urge Bahrain to immediately release our friend Khalil al-Marzooq. As you may remember, Khalil is one of the leaders of the democratic opposition Al Wefaq National Islamic Society and has often-times participated in our meetings.
Khalil was arrested on 26 September last, and, unless significant political developments happen, he will have to spend 30 days of preliminary incarceration to eventually face the serious allegations of “inciting terror” after a speech he delivered on 6 September at a political rally attended by nearly 6,000 people near the village of Saar. During the speech a masked man passed near the podium and gave him a white flag which Khalil put aside. The flag allegedly symbolizes the “14 February Movement”, a network of youth groups established in 2011, which has called for the end of the monarchy. Some of the movement’s members are on trial, accused of using violence. From what we have been able to gather, Khalil’s speech re-affirmed the appeal of his party to promote reforms in a peaceful and nonviolent way.
Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch consider Khalil al-Marzooq a prisoner of conscience and, having been with him in several meetings all over Europe, we can testify that he has always promoted structural reforms and not a “regime change”. What might have started as a movement to protect the Sciite community in Bahrain has now become a platform for comprehensive reforms in a country, or a region for that matter, with serious problems of human rights violations.
For a couple of years now, the Radical Party has been collaborating with some of the most prominent members of the Bahraini political opposition among whom Khalil al-Marzooq and Jasim Husain , who has been a member of the Radical Party since 2011. On several occasions, we have facilitated further contacts with other politicians and legislators because we believe that al-Wefaq proposals correspond to what the United Nations has invited Manama to do to concretely follow up to their international obligations stemming from here adhesion to all major international instruments on human rights and her presence and participation in the UN Council on Human Rights.
Since the beginning of the demonstrations in Manama, the Bahraini government has imposed emergency laws to curb public political activities, the arrest of a prominent moderate politician may be the prelude for tougher reactions and, possibly, the beginning of a new way of facing the “street” that does not seem to be retreating despite this concerning developments.
The Nonviolent Radical Party has endorsed and re-launched a petition for the immediate release of Khalil al-Marzooq and is ready to do all it can to contribute to the cause that he and his fellow nonviolent Bahrainis hold dear: the promotion of peace and democracy in their country.
Should you wish to sign the petition please visit this page and issue a statement on his behalf
We look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes!
Marco PerducaCo-vicepresident, Senate of the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty
No comments:
Post a Comment