See also Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Nailing Jelly to the Wall
British Foreign Secretary William HagueAnother episode in our continuing series on the "information" put out by Bahrain's State agencies and media (hat tip to Brian Whitaker for bringing attention to the story)....
Last Thursday, British Foreign William Hague, reviewing Middle Eastern developments in a statement to Parliament, said:
Members of all sides of the House will have concerns about events in Bahrain, including the use of military-led courts to try civilian defendants including doctors and nurses. We welcome the announcement by the Bahraini Attorney General that the cases of the medical staff will now be retried in a civil court on 23 October, and the expected report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on 30 October. We attach great importance to the publication of this report. It is a major opportunity for Bahrain to demonstrate that it will adhere to international standards, meet its human rights commitments and take action when abuses are identified.
The Bahrain News Agency took note of the speech, but apparently it felt the address needed re-drafting. This is the version that emerged three days later:
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague asserted that the political march in Bahrain is progressing, adding that the kingdom seems resolved to enhance that march for the sake of achieving consensus between all segments of the Bahraini society.
He also said that the International Community has welcomed the landmark initiatives launched by the kingdom recently, such as the establishment of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) and the National Consensus Dialogue that engaged all parties in the country.
In a statement he delivered at the House of Commons last Thursday, William Hague stressed the importance of the report due to be issued by BICI by the end of this month.
"We attach great importance to the publication of this report," he said, adding that it will be a "major opportunity for Bahrain to demonstrate that it will adhere to international standards, meet its human rights commitments and take actions when abuses are identified."
William Hague also welcomed the announcement of the Bahraini Attorney General that the medical staff will be retried in a civil court on October 23.
He also said doctors and nurses were tried over violations they had committed, asserting that their trial in a civil court will be transparent and fair.
Let's review. Hague's concern was turned into fictional declarations that "the political march...is progressing" and "the kingdom seems resolved to enhance that march". The State news agency accurately notes the Foreign Secretary's reference to the report of a Commission of Inquiry, but it adds the "landmark initiative" of the National Dialogue, which Hague never mentioned in his opening statement.
And Hague's endorsement of a retrial for 20 medical staff, sentenced to between five and 15 years in prison, gets a bit of optimistic gloss: at no point did he assure British MPs "that their trial in a civil court will be transparent and fair".
Perhaps the Bahrain News Agency will argue that its summary was also noting the Foreign Secretary's responses to questions by MPs about his statement. For example, here is the welcoming of the National Dialogue, albeit with a pointed observation at the end.
It is welcome that [the regime] has attempted, since the time that the right hon. Gentleman was talking about, a national dialogue in Bahrain, yet of course there are many valid, legitimate criticisms as well, and allegations of human rights abuses. That national dialogue has not yet been successful in bringing everybody together in Bahrain.
This is Hague's elucidation on the Commission of Inquiry: "The credibility of the report and the readiness to act on it will be an important test of how Bahrain will approach the coming weeks and months."
And how did the Bahrain News Agency find Hague's supposed exaltation of the "transparent and fair" retrial of the medical staff?
It is absolutely not my brief to defend the Bahraini Government in their handling of the situation. There are allegations about those doctors and nurses, and some in Bahrain argue that they were not going about their jobs but doing other things. It is not for me, however, to state those allegations or to agree with them. Those people should have been tried, if they needed to be tried at all, in a transparent way, in a civil court and with, of course, a fair judgment at the end. Therefore, we welcome the decision that they should be retried, and we will all watch very closely how that retrial takes place and what the verdicts are.
Back then to where the Bahrain News Agency started --- "the political march in Bahrain is progressing" --- and where Hague finished his answers to MPs. I guess "a political process is alive in Bahrain" could be amplified into the right declaration by the Foreign Secretary, but I am not sure how well that stands up when the comparison is to Muammar Qaddafi:
I do not think that the Bahraini Government are in any doubt about our views on these issues; I expressed them forcefully to the Bahraini ambassador last week. They must not miss the opportunity that is there with the report on 30 October. The difference between Bahrain and Libya is that a political process is alive in Bahrain. The only way forward for Bahrain is for that political process to succeed and for an accommodation to be reached between its Shi’a and Sunni communities. That is a different situation from the one that prevailed in Libya six months ago.