Presented by the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB).
Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy Forces Central Command and the Fifth Fleet, is a vital security partner of the United States. As a result, events on the ground in Bahrain could have profound implications on long-term U.S. security interests in the region. In November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) confirmed that the Government of Bahrain had engaged in systematic human rights violations in response to peaceful protests that began in February of that year and recommended 26 legal and policy changes intended to prevent a recurrence of similar events, which were publicly accepted by King Hamad. The BICI report was welcomed by the international community as a potentially critical step toward resolving the country’s escalating political crisis.
Yet two years after the release of the BICI report, the Government of Bahrain has made little meaningful progress in implementing those recommendations, missing a critical opportunity to use the report as a bridge toward necessary political reform. Now, after nearly three years of political stalemate, recently revamped political negotiations between the monarchy and opposition leadership may indicate a new way forward for the country.
What diplomatic options does the United States have in Bahrain? What are the main obstacles to political reform and reconciliation in the country? What role, if any, will the new talks play in resolving Bahrain's deepening divides?
Join us as panelists from Bahrain and the United States discuss the prospects of reform and reconciliation and what can be done to support a meaningful resolution of the political crisis in Bahrain.
Dwight Bashir
Deputy Director
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
Maryam al-Khawaja
Acting President
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Sayed Radhi al-Moosawi
Acting Secretary-General
National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
Sarah Margon
Acting Washington Director,
Human Rights Watch
Moderator: Husain Abdulla
Executive Director
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
