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[alwaysshariff]

I like to know what the other people in this forum think about going to Bahrain this year. I read a lot about the Human Rights discused in Physicians for Human Rights Website. I watched a documentary called Riots And Revolution in Egypt and Bahrain (Screened BBC 3 In UK). This was filmed only few months ago.

I am all out and happy for F1 going to all the countries if possible, but as a human being I have moral decision to make after disecting all the proper facts .... not the propoganda. Here is a bit from Testimony of Richard Sollom, MA, MPH,Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Testimony of Richard Sollom, MA, MPH,Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)Before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing.

Based on our research, we estimate that approximately 36 medical professionals have been arrested,
about 16 have been released, and 47 have been accused by a Bahraini military prosecutor of acting
against the regime and face future trials.
The government of Bahrain’s systematic attack on medical professionals plays out in startling personal
stories. Armed security forces abducted Dr. Ali El-Ekri from the operating room while he was performing
surgery at Salmaniya Hospital on 17 March.
In another incident, security forces shot a man named Ali in the face and head at close range with
birdshot. He woke up later in Salmaniya Hospital where he was held for five days. On the second day of
his detention, three armed security forces handcuffed Ali and a dozen other wounded men behind their
backs with plastic wrist ties and began to beat them. Then the security forces threw Ali and the other
patients face first onto the floor and dragged them out into the hallway, leaving trails of blood on the
floor. Interrogation, torture, and extraction of forced confessions followed.
Another doctor was abducted in the middle of the night from his home in front of his wife and three
children. Police and masked men in civilian clothes stormed the home of Dr. Abdul Khaliq al-Oraibi on
April 1. The security forces dragged him out of bed, handcuffed, and then blindfolded him. They did not
say where or why they were taking him. His family has not heard from him since.

From: [url]http://tlhrc.house.gov/docs/transcripts/2011_05_13_Bahrain/RSollom_%20Bahrain_Testimony.pdf
[/url]

[killem2]

This is so disgusting, like a lot of the middle eastern place's mindsets.

Its really disturbing that my country (USA) used to be the big time world police on these type of issues, but big oil, has us by the balls, so fighting for those people's freedoms is not on the agenda.

They really should not have a race there until they get it all figured out.

[andrew]

This was posted in a forum on my former stomping ground by a wise head early last year when the troubles first started in Bahrain. I have to agree with what they wrote - if it is safe to race then they should do so, if it isn't safe to race then they should not do so.

If Bahrains human rights record is going to be called into question and used as a measure of whether the should or should not host a GP then the same should be done for all host nations.

Safety of all involved is the only parameter worthy of measuring here. If that can be guaranteed, then the show can go on.

If you were to demand any international sport to get on a political high horse, there would barely be a country left to go to..

Australian GP - Live Animal Exports/Offshore Refugee Processing/Indigenous People Treatment
Malaysian GP - Judicial caning & torture of refugees & migrants/exploitation of migrant workers
Chinese GP - Tibet Human Rights/Freedom of speech suppression etc
Turkish GP - Human rights concerns against Turkish Kurds/language suppression etc. Failure of recognition of Cyprus
Spanish/European GP - Basque region conflicts & restrictions to freedom of speech & language
Canadian GP - Religiously segregated schools/Bill 101's restriction on the use of English language.
British GP - Invasion of Iraq/Involvement in Libyan conflict
German GP - German involvement in Afghan conflict/Asylum seeker deportation controversy
Hungarian GP - Violations against human right to private life/Freedom of expression/press concerns
Italian GP - Tunisian deportation & torture violations/Roma settlement evictions
Singapore GP - Severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and assembly
Japanese GP - Prisoner conditions, many concerns about govt inaction during nuclear powerstation crisis
South Korean GP - Freedom of speech suppression (National Security Law)
Bahrain GP - Severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and assembly/Political uprisings
Abu Dhabi GP - Restrictions on freedom of speech, and press/labor rights/inaction on sexual violence/women's rights
Brazilian GP - Ongoing police brutality/treatment of indigenous people
Indian GP - Human rights abuses in Kashmir region/Detentions without charge/Police brutality & custodial deaths/judicial use of 'narcoanalysis'

Where do you draw the line people? Which of the above human rights abuses are you comfortable with, to be happy for Formula 1 to travel to all the above countries?

Leave the politics to the politicians, and the sport to the sportsmen.

The only discussion about the merits of the Bahrain GP's reinstatement should be safety.

Need I mention the US?

[killem2]

You certainly can mention the US. I promise you, we look like f***ing angels compared to s*** that goes on in the middle east.

I believe on the radio today there was a story about how women in IRAN were being question in regards to being able to drive because it could lead to less virgins.

Yeah, brilliant use of oxygen in that part of the world.

[andrew]

You certainly can mention the US. I promise you, we look like f***ing angels compared to s*** that goes on in the middle east.

I believe on the radio today there was a story about how women in IRAN were being question in regards to being able to drive because it could lead to less virgins.

Yeah, brilliant use of oxygen in that part of the world.

The thing that a lot of people forget about the Middle East is that they have quite a strict society in that they follow their religious texts extremely closely. What seems barbaric to us will seem perfectly normal to them and vise versa.

I think that us in the West are very quick to vilifiy other nations but tend to turn a blind eye to the actions of our own nations and their allies.

I don't agree that the US are angels compared to the Middle East. They are at least just as bad as every other nation on this messed up planet!

[bud]

You certainly can mention the US. I promise you, we look like f***ing angels compared to s*** that goes on in the middle east.

I believe on the radio today there was a story about how women in IRAN were being question in regards to being able to drive because it could lead to less virgins.

Yeah, brilliant use of oxygen in that part of the world.

They are morons over there quite simply that whole religions treatment of women makes me sick.

[alwaysshariff]

Well yes of course you all are right. Now if we thought the same about South africa in the old days N Mandala will still be in prison. It is similar here as the Sunni minority is ruling over the Shia minority, and keep them in prison (15 years, just for treating a injured Shia man)). Huh? I am not a muslim and I live in UK. There is a certain amount of discrimination here as well. But when people who visited Bahrain and seen it through their own eyes report the vileness of it, we have to take steps to stop it. One way or another.

I am a F1 fan in all my adult life. And I do not like a race stopped for political reasons. Is this political? I question you. And then again someone was harping about the safety. How do we know that none of our drivers or the technicians will be harmed?

[What's Burning?]

Protests and the subsequent, violence will spark up before the GP, whether we "hear" about it or not is a different story.

[oaba09]

You certainly can mention the US. I promise you, we look like f***ing angels compared to s*** that goes on in the middle east.

I believe on the radio today there was a story about how women in IRAN were being question in regards to being able to drive because it could lead to less virgins.

Yeah, brilliant use of oxygen in that part of the world.

The thing that a lot of people forget about the Middle East is that they have quite a strict society in that they follow their religious texts extremely closely. What seems barbaric to us will seem perfectly normal to them and vise versa.

I think that us in the West are very quick to vilifiy other nations but tend to turn a blind eye to the actions of our own nations and their allies.

I don't agree that the US are angels compared to the Middle East. They are at least just as bad as every other nation on this messed up planet!

This.....If the west thinks that the middle east countries are barbaric, just imagine what those countries think about the west....It's a simple clash of ideologies.

[bud]

You certainly can mention the US. I promise you, we look like f***ing angels compared to s*** that goes on in the middle east.

I believe on the radio today there was a story about how women in IRAN were being question in regards to being able to drive because it could lead to less virgins.

Yeah, brilliant use of oxygen in that part of the world.

The thing that a lot of people forget about the Middle East is that they have quite a strict society in that they follow their religious texts extremely closely. What seems barbaric to us will seem perfectly normal to them and vise versa.

I think that us in the West are very quick to vilifiy other nations but tend to turn a blind eye to the actions of our own nations and their allies.

I don't agree that the US are angels compared to the Middle East. They are at least just as bad as every other nation on this messed up planet!

This.....If the west thinks that the middle east countries are barbaric, just imagine what those countries think about the west....It's a simple clash of ideologies.

Given the mass immigration to western countries from the middle east and other parts of the world, I'd say they must like the west way of life...

[oaba09]

You certainly can mention the US. I promise you, we look like f***ing angels compared to s*** that goes on in the middle east.

I believe on the radio today there was a story about how women in IRAN were being question in regards to being able to drive because it could lead to less virgins.

Yeah, brilliant use of oxygen in that part of the world.

The thing that a lot of people forget about the Middle East is that they have quite a strict society in that they follow their religious texts extremely closely. What seems barbaric to us will seem perfectly normal to them and vise versa.

I think that us in the West are very quick to vilifiy other nations but tend to turn a blind eye to the actions of our own nations and their allies.

I don't agree that the US are angels compared to the Middle East. They are at least just as bad as every other nation on this messed up planet!

This.....If the west thinks that the middle east countries are barbaric, just imagine what those countries think about the west....It's a simple clash of ideologies.

Given the mass immigration to western countries from the middle east and other parts of the world, I'd say they must like the west way of life...

Some likes the west way of life but majority simply likes the higher wages in the west.....This is the reason why most immigrants come from poor countries....You don't see a lot of saudi arabian citizens immigrating to the US do you?

[bud]

And how many Westerners have migrated to Saudia Arabia? Without the oil reserves the Saudis you speak of and other wealthy people of the region wouldn't be rich at all.
Given the west has open arms on immigration and letting those people live freely with regards to religion and beliefs, freedom of speech etc. I can't see that happening if a westerner were to migrate there, your wife would be a second class citizen, I mean you'd think in this modern time even over there women would be treated better! That says it all to me of which of the 2 ideologies is best.

[oaba09]

And how many Westerners have migrated to Saudia Arabia? Without the oil reserves the Saudis you speak of and other wealthy people of the region wouldn't be rich at all.
Given the west has open arms on immigration and letting those people live freely with regards to religion and beliefs, freedom of speech etc. I can't see that happening if a westerner were to migrate there, your wife would be a second class citizen, I mean you'd think in this modern time even over there women would be treated better! That says it all to me of which of the 2 ideologies is best.

And that's why I said that it's just a clash of ideologies

What may seem barbaric to us may actually be normal in the mid-east....Don't get me wrong, I live in the Philippines and our culture has been influenced heavily by the west, specifically spain, mexico, and the US(there's a reason why some considers us as "latin asians") but IMO, we shouldn't criticize a country for having a different ideology and belief....

[racechick]

And how many Westerners have migrated to Saudia Arabia? Without the oil reserves the Saudis you speak of and other wealthy people of the region wouldn't be rich at all.
Given the west has open arms on immigration and letting those people live freely with regards to religion and beliefs, freedom of speech etc. I can't see that happening if a westerner were to migrate there, your wife would be a second class citizen, I mean you'd think in this modern time even over there women would be treated better! That says it all to me of which of the 2 ideologies is best.

And that's why I said that it's just a clash of ideologies

What may seem barbaric to us may actually be normal in the mid-east....Don't get me wrong, I live in the Philippines and our culture has been influenced heavily by the west, specifically spain, mexico, and the US(there's a reason why some considers us as "latin asians") but IMO, we shouldn't criticize a country for having a different ideology and belief....

It may be 'normal' but Idont think the women like 'normal', and if they disagree, try to escape, get raped, then they most likely get stoned or burnt, often to death.
Anyway back to Bahrain GP. Bernie will do his damndest to run that race because if he cancels again he stands to get sued.

[alwaysshariff]

i wrote a few months back about the situation in Bahrain. I read the entry Ra Ra riots. Now I like, if you please, to visit following webpages and comment.

Check this Youtube entry how much the common people in Bahrain hates the Police. Check how people come around and kick the dead policeman and throw bricks at him towords the end. Are we safe to go to Bahrain?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEgqI4vp ... re=related

The next is from last year from the Dateline website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSCXyw3C ... r_embedded

Few days ago, actually on the 2nd of April this one was published with a history of the disturbance there in Bahrain. You cannot deny the fact that people in Bahrain are still demonstrating and do you think F1 will be safe, as the first youtube entry shows. In Ra Ra Riots I find that the intention is there for the demonstraters to act. How?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll645LARgk8

Here is the link for people in this forum, who are against the F1 racing in Bahrain, a petition organised by the Avaaz.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/f1_dont_race_ba ... 27&v=12046

When I first published about Bahrain saga, there were comments about how many other countries do nasty things which is against Human Rights by UN. But what disgusts me most is that other countries are not as murderous as Bahrain regime.