Bahrain activists criticise UK over King Hamad's honorary knighthood

Human rights activists person criticised an honorary knighthood fixed to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, who visited the UK earlier this week.

In a missive to Buckingham Palace, 3 Bahraini activists present surviving successful exile called connected King Charles to rescind the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, describing the grant arsenic a “betrayal".

They cited what they called the “arbitrary imprisonment, brutal torture, unfair trials, and arbitrary executions of guiltless individuals".

A spokesperson for Bahrain's authorities said it "firmly rejects these baseless claims which place the important advancement the Kingdom has achieved successful advancing idiosyncratic rights and the regularisation of law".

"We stay committed to continued reforms and invited constructive dialog to code immoderate morganatic concerns reasonably and transparently," they added.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch person some besides expressed concern.

“You person to wonderment what awesome this sends erstwhile the Bahraini authorities are unjustly prosecuting their critics, erstwhile quality rights defenders are languishing successful Bahraini jails and erstwhile the Manama authorities garbage to reinstate the citizenship of radical rendered stateless connected politically motivated charges,” said Allan Hogarth, Amnesty International UK’s caput of authorities and governmental relations.

The grant fixed to King Hamad arsenic good arsenic King Abdullah of Jordan – who are some marking metallic jubilees this twelvemonth – was announced connected Wednesday by Buckingham Palace.

It is not commenting connected the criticism.

Bahrain and the UK person beardown diplomatic, governmental and subject relations.

On Monday, King Hamad arrived successful a equine and carriage astatine Windsor Castle, receiving a Royal Salute from a Guard of Honour.

A “spectacular evening” followed which ended with pipers marching astir the meal table, according to the British ambassador to Bahrain, Alastair Long, connected Instagram.

He said that King Charles, addressing the Bahraini monarch, had praised him for being “guided by his interest and attraction for his people.”

King Hamad, a Sunni Muslim, rules a state with a Shia majority, and members of his household clasp the main governmental and subject positions.

In 2011, pro-democracy protests were crushed, with the assistance of troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier this year, hundreds of governmental prisoners were freed aft they were granted a royal pardon to people 25 years of King Hamad’s rule.

But galore stay successful jail, including quality rights activistic Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, 63, and 76-year-old absorption person Hassan Mushaima, the fathers of 2 of the signatories to the missive to King Charles - Maryam Al-Khawaja and Ali Mushaima.

The 3rd signatory, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei - who is present a British national - said helium had been beaten, tortured and jailed for calling for peaceful change.

“Throughout King Hamad’s rule, scores of Bahrainis person been arbitrarily detained and tortured, and immoderate person adjacent been killed arsenic a effect of exercising their rights to assembly and escaped expression,” Niku Jafarnia of Human Rights Watch told the BBC.

“The caller pardons he’s fixed don’t marque up for these abuses, and it’s a disgrace that helium has been granted this grant portion galore inactive stay wrongfully detained,” she said.