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Bahrain — why the silence?
Demanding change in Bahrain is the only fit way to honour the courage of Bahraini human rights activists, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE MP
IGNORED: Since 2011, the popular uprising for democracy and equality in Bahrain has been an inconvenience for Western governments looking to do business with the regime

LAST week, in Parliament, I spoke at an event to mark the 12th anniversary of the 2011 uprising, in the presence of some of Bahrain’s most notable and courageous figures in the human rights movement, including Maryam Al-Khawaja, Dr Alaa Alshehabi and Husain Abdulla.

Much of Bahrain’s history has been characterised by remarkable progressive and egalitarian traditions going back a thousand years — a history that has put the people deeply at odds with the authoritarianism they have been forced to live under in recent decades.

And I paid tribute to the guests, as well as to the journalists, academics, prisoners of conscience and others who have fought to extend that legacy despite torture, beatings, imprisonment and repression.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
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