Stop the War Coalition Extremely Concerned About Worsening HR Situation in Bahrain, Saudi Crimes in Yemen- Exclusive

It has also precisely taken part, or even organized, events, marches, and conferences concerning the crackdown in Bahrain launched by the Saudi-backed ruling Al Khalifa family, as well as the Saudi war on Yemen.
 
Stop the War Coalition is one of the organizers of "The International Conference in Support of the People of Yemen" held on August 20-21, 2016 in London.
 
Steven Bell, one of the representatives of the prominent organization, expressed to Bahrain Mirror the organization's deepest concern regarding the current situation in Bahrain.
 
"We are extremely concerned about the worsening human rights situation in Bahrain. The fact that senior politicians, senior religious leaders are being stripped of citizenship, being imprisoned, as well as many renowned activists, is an illustration that there is no effective reform process inside Bahrain today", said Bell in an exclusive interview with Bahrain Mirror.
 
Further commenting on the matter, he stated that Stop the War "highlights the fact that the British government is prepared to accept a naval base for free in Bahrain, yet is not prepared to seriously press the royal dictatorship in Bahrain to change his ways and to support the introduction of democracy into Bahrain."
 
In the context of whether any international action is being involved in Bahrain, Steven Bell reiterated the United Nation's status as an "ambiguous body". He hoped that there would be coordination among all parties of the international community. However, he voiced his deep concern that such a coordination is impossible, especially that the United Nations has just elected a Saudi Government representative to the UN human rights committee, thus making a joke of any process in building a collaboration towards resolution.
 
"We need international coordination, the UN should be assisting and promoting that coordination, but it has to be serious and realistic. So now, it is down to the peoples pressing their particular governments for action in support of the people in Bahrain and against the dictatorship", he went on to say.
 
Regarding the international conference in support of Yemen, the Stop the War representative said, "We have brought together people today in order to discuss a political solution to the war in Yemen. We think this is proving very timely with the breakdown of the peace negotiations in Kuwait, this is an opportunity for us to discuss practical solutions."
 
Moreover, he asserted the intention to put political pressure upon the British government, which is supporting the Saudi war and aggression, and thus could be damaging the prospect for peace.
 
"We believe the British government should empower arms embargo upon Saudi Arabia and stop backing the war of one of the richest countries in the world, against one of the poorest", Bell further noted.
 
He further noted that the attendance of participants from the Labor Party and the Scottish National Party at the conference, who for their part stressed on the need for coordinated action in support of the people of Yemen, shows an important development.
 
On this note, he added that, "up until last year in Britain, there was almost no criticism of the Saudi regime, now there is widespread concern about the action of the Saudis".
 
"We think that this conference is achieving something, it is highlighting the terrible crimes against the people of Yemen and the Gulf. It is stimulating a generation of activists to look for serious initiatives, and that has to contribute in some small way", Mr. Bell concluded.