British activists deplore royal family

25 April, 2011 12:12

British campaigners have organized protests outside Westminster Abbey and five-star hotels where foreign despots are staying to attend the Royal Wedding.

Human rights activists have vowed to stage protests against the invitations of Crown Prince of Bahrain Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa’s, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohamed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, Zimbabwe’s ambassador to the UK, and the King of Swaziland over human rights abuses in their countries.

The Bahraini Crown Prince has been forced to withdraw his name from the list of attendees amid anger over his regime’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the tiny Persian Gulf island state.

The violent crackdown backed by Saudi troops have left almost 31 people dead and thousands more injured, while nearly 1,000 protesters have been arrested, including medical staff, who were treating wounded protesters.

Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahraini Center for Human Rights, said he believed Britain, which is one of the country’s leading trading partners, had asked the Bahraini prince to cancel his attendance to prevent further embarrassment for the UK government.

Meanwhile, Bahrainis living in the UK plan to stage demonstrations close to Westminster Abbey at the decision to invite Prince Salman, who has been commander-in-chief of the country’s defense force since 1999.

“We are still very upset because the invitation is still valid. We would like to see the British government fully condemn what is going on – not invite people to a wedding who have blood on their handsâ€, said Nabeel Rajab.

“Doctors and people are in jail at this moment. Hospitals are under attack… Human rights activists are being killed and tortured to death and thousands of people are in jail,” added the president of the Bahraini Center for Human Rights.

In a report last week, Amnesty International accused the Bahraini regime of using “excessive force” since launching an “orchestrated crackdown” against protesters on March 16. It said security forces were using shotguns, rubber bullets, tear gas and live ammunition.

An Amnesty spokesman called on the British government to use any opportunity to urge Bahrain to halt its crackdown on freedom of expression, and demanded it put an end to double standards after vigorously supporting opponents of the existing regimes in Libya and Yemen.