Public Hearing Notice: UK Court to Look Into FCO Secret Document on Bahrain

Public Hearing Notice: UK Court to Look Into FCO Secret Document on Bahrain

Public Hearing Notice: UK Court to Look Into FCO Secret Document on Bahrain

By : Jadaliyya Reports

[The following report was originally published by Bahrain Watch on 9 March 2015.]

Judge to Decide on 18-Month Battle to Release Secret British Documents on Bahrain

On 10 March, the Information Rights Tribunal in London will consider whether to order the Foreign Office to reveal 40-year-old secret communications between Foreign Office officials. In June 2013, Marc Owen Jones, a Durham University PhD student and member of the NGO, Bahrain Watch made a Freedom of Information Request to the FCO, requesting a secret file entitled “Bahrain: Internal Political situation 1977.” The FCO refused to disclose the full file, arguing that to reveal the information would damage international relations. Jones complained to the Information Commissioner who rejected his complaint on the basis that prejudice would be caused to the United Kingdom’s relations with Bahrain if it were made public. He then instructed London human rights lawyers, Deighton Pierce Glynn to appeal to the Information Tribunal, instructing barrister Sam Jacobs of Doughty Street Chambers. In his appeal he argued that to suggest that disclosing the record of a conversation which took place almost thirty-eight years ago, where one of the parties is now deceased, would damage the extremely close and durable relationship between Bahrain and the UK which has lasted for decades was completely absurd. He also argued it was unfair that the FCO’s full reasons for refusing to disclose the evidence were a secret so he has no chance to respond.

On 16 February, the FCO filed evidence at court from a senior diplomat, Edward Oakden, to the Middle East who will be giving evidence at the hearing. His statement (not for reproduction prior to him giving evidence) says:

Bahrain is a generous host to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, providing basing and overflight rights free of charge. In December 2014, the Foreign Secretary signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Bahrain to establish a more permanent naval base in Bahrain, which the King has agreed to fund. The new agreement will provide improved facilities for UK Royal Navy personnel; allow us to expand our operational effectiveness in a volatile region; and will also provide us with a forward base for naval operations. [REDACTED] … If the Bahraini authorities were to conclude that confidential information exchanged during the course of UK reform assistance projects could now be released, they could be less inclined to continue to accept such assistance, as we have also seen happen in other countries. Disclosure of this material would then cause damage to our initiatives to enhance human rights, civil liberties and good governance at a time when the UK is providing increasingly sensitive assistance on police reform in the security sector. 
 

Most of Mr. Oakden’s statement was redacted and will be considered by the tribunal at a secret “Closed” hearing within a hearing.

In his appeal, Marc Owen Jones said:

My appeal is reflecting public concern that the British Government has insulated the Government of Bahrain from criticism of serious human rights abuses including torture, and may have concealed evidence of serious wrong-doing. How can the government seriously use the recent decision to open a defence base in Bahrain to justify a decision to withhold information they made over 18 months ago?

I believe it is not in the public interest for the FCO to withhold information about the contentious relationship between Britain and Bahrain going back to the seventies. The spurious argument that the new British base deal should serve as a reason to keep the information secret is also objectionable, as the FCO`s decision to withhold came long before the new base deal was announced in December 2014. Furthermore, the nature of the hearing itself, in which most of the FCO`s evidence is secret, is also undemocratic, and makes a mockery of both the procedure and our right to know. As was noted in the white paper on our right to know, "unnecessary secrecy in government leads to arrogance in governance and defective decision-making". It is also questionable that the particular document being withheld is a conversation involving Ian Henderson, now dead, who is a Briton also accused of torture serving as head of the police during the brutal crushing of the Mau Mau Insurgency in Kenya. Here again involved in torture in Bahrain. But we may never know.

Jones also noted that “Given the recent case against the FCO by Kenyan Mau Mau, I am concerned that important evidence regarding the involvement of British citizens in quashing dissent in Bahrain is being withheld. Please bear in mind that one of the parties involved in this FOI request [namely Ian Henderson] played an important role in repressing the Mau Mau before going to Bahrain. I believe it is in the interest of the British public to know the exact extent of British involvement in the potentially nefarious activities used to crush dissent in Bahrain.”

His solicitor, Sue Willman said, “What is on trial here is the transparency and the accountability of the actions of the British Government in relation to Bahrain. Also on trial is the worrying trend towards secret justice in the UK, when most of the relevant evidence will be heard in closed proceedings so my client has no idea what is being said and no means of challenging it ”.   

The basis of appeal – an attempt at lifting the shroud of secrecy:

  1. Procedural unfairness. Previous refusals have relied on a review of undisclosed material but also on reasons which are not disclosed. The FCO appears to have reviewed documents, while Jones was not even given an opportunity to respond to any reasons given. Previous decisions lacked sufficient information and so are procedurally unfair. Jones believes more of the information relied upon should be made public and fuller reasons given so that he is able to properly respond to it.
  2. No real and direct causal relationship exists between potential disclosure and claimed prejudice. To suggest that disclosing the record of a conversation which took place almost thirty-seven years ago, where one of the parties is now deceased, would damage the extremely close and durable relationship between Bahrain and the United Kingdom which has lasted for decades is Marc argues “completely absurd.” Jones hopes to produce evidence that the disclosure of far more significant information has not damaged the United Kingdom’s relations with Bahrain. It is unclear why this claim needed to be dealt with in secret, and it is submitted that this is procedurally unfair.
  3. General public interest in promoting transparency, accountability, public understanding and involvement in the democratic process. This interest also extends to citizens of other countries. Britain has a long history of close relations with Bahrain against a background of allegations of egregious human rights abuses including torture and extra-judicial executions. There is public concern that the British Government has insulated the Government of Bahrain from criticism, and may have concealed evidence of serious wrongdoing. This factor does not appear to have been given any weight and has not been referred to in previous decisions.
  4. The public interest in presenting a full picture. “In terms of arguments in favor of disclosure, the Commissioner agreed “that disclosure of the redacted information would provide a further and genuinely informative insight into the security situation in Bahrain in the 1970s”. Jones argues that this is a limited approach and there is public interest in presenting a fuller picture.
  5. The public interest in the removal of a plausible suspicion of wrongdoing, which clearly applies in relation to both Ian Henderson and UK Government officials in this case. The evidence could shed light on the question of complicity by these actors or otherwise in egregious acts against citizens of Bahrain. The information could have a potential in this situation to help remove the plausible suspicion of wrongdoing, while the matters are still within collective memory but at a time period which is sufficiently far removed to reduce embarrassment to those involved. Again, this factor does not appear to have been given any weight.

The document in question: “Bahrain: Internal Political situation 1977”

The document concerns the internal security situation in Bahrain and was between Henderson himself and an FCO official, David Tatham. It is therefore believed that the document might have important information pertaining to Henderson’s role and his activities in Bahrain. Information released under FOIA requests alludes to serious issues within the security services, and it would be important to shed more light on the reasons for this, since such issues could have contributed to abuses in Bahrain. At this time, there were 11 British police officers including Ian Henderson in Bahrain, so the UK government had a role in events in Bahrain.

 

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–START TEXT:

I met Brigadier Ian Henderson the Head of the Bahrain Special Branch, at a recent Home Office Conference on security equipment […] I asked the Brigadier about his plans and how he saw the future. Brigadier Henderson said he hoped to leave Bahrain within six months, but there were problems. He believed that if he went the Commander of Police, Mr Bell, and the nine British Special Branch officers (I had no idea there were so many) would also leave. His personal relations with the ruler and other responsible Bahrainis would be soured however tactfully he gave his notice. He thought the effort effect on the efficiency of the security apparatus generally would be severe. At present he and Mr Bell were trying hard to keep up standards but a general sloppiness was creeping in. [REDACTED] What surprised me in our conversation was the gloomy view he took of the ability of the Al Khalifa to survive. [REDACTED] They were moving into lucrative areas of business and squeezing out established merchants. D.E. Tetham Middle East Department 1st December 1977 –END TEXT

FCO Censorship and the Right to Know: Two-Thirds of FOI Requests Declined

Bahrain Watch has made 21 FOI requests of which two thirds (fourteen in total) have been declined on similar grounds, one partially released, three are awaiting public interest tests and three have been made available. This campaign is being conducted by researchers and PhD researchers. If you have made any FOI requests related to the Gulf, please get in touch.

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The public hearing will take place at 10am at the following address:

Field House
15 Bream’s Buildings
London
EC4A 1DZ

Please join the demonstration starting at 9am outside the court house.

 

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Past is Present: Settler Colonialism Matters!

On 5-6 March 2011, the Palestine Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London will hold its seventh annual conference, "Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine." This year`s conference aims to understand Zionism as a settler colonial project which has, for more than a century, subjected Palestine and Palestinians to a structural and violent form of destruction, dispossession, land appropriation and erasure in the pursuit of a new Jewish Israeli society. By organizing this conference, we hope to reclaim and revive the settler colonial paradigm and to outline its potential to inform and guide political strategy and mobilization.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often described as unique and exceptional with little resemblance to other historical or ongoing colonial conflicts. Yet, for Zionism, like other settler colonial projects such as the British colonization of Ireland or European settlement of North America, South Africa or Australia, the imperative is to control the land and its resources -- and to displace the original inhabitants. Indeed, as conference keynote speaker Patrick Wolfe, one of the foremost scholars on settler colonialism and professor at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, argues, "the logic of this project, a sustained institutional tendency to eliminate the Indigenous population, informs a range of historical practices that might otherwise appear distinct--invasion is a structure not an event."[i]

Therefore, the classification of the Zionist movement as a settler colonial project, and the Israeli state as its manifestation, is not merely intended as a statement on the historical origins of Israel, nor as a rhetorical or polemical device. Rather, the aim is to highlight Zionism`s structural continuities and the ideology which informs Israeli policies and practices in Palestine and toward Palestinians everywhere. Thus, the Nakba -- whether viewed as a spontaneous, violent episode in war, or the implementation of a preconceived master plan -- should be understood as both the precondition for the creation of Israel and the logical outcome of Zionist settlement in Palestine.

Moreover, it is this same logic that sustains the continuation of the Nakba today. As remarked by Benny Morris, “had he [David Ben Gurion] carried out full expulsion--rather than partial--he would have stabilised the State of Israel for generations.”[ii] Yet, plagued by an “instability”--defined by the very existence of the Palestinian nation--Israel continues its daily state practices in its quest to fulfill Zionism’s logic to maximize the amount of land under its control with the minimum number of Palestinians on it. These practices take a painful array of manifestations: aerial and maritime bombardment, massacre and invasion, house demolitions, land theft, identity card confiscation, racist laws and loyalty tests, the wall, the siege on Gaza, cultural appropriation, and the dependence on willing (or unwilling) native collaboration and security arrangements, all with the continued support and backing of imperial power. 

Despite these enduring practices however, the settler colonial paradigm has largely fallen into disuse. As a paradigm, it once served as a primary ideological and political framework for all Palestinian political factions and trends, and informed the intellectual work of committed academics and revolutionary scholars, both Palestinians and Jews.

The conference thus asks where and why the settler colonial paradigm was lost, both in scholarship on Palestine and in politics; how do current analyses and theoretical trends that have arisen in its place address present and historical realities? While acknowledging the creativity of these new interpretations, we must nonetheless ask: when exactly did Palestinian natives find themselves in a "post-colonial" condition? When did the ongoing struggle over land become a "post-conflict" situation? When did Israel become a "post-Zionist" society? And when did the fortification of Palestinian ghettos and reservations become "state-building"?

In outlining settler colonialism as a central paradigm from which to understand Palestine, this conference re-invigorates it as a tool by which to analyze the present situation. In doing so, it contests solutions which accommodate Zionism, and more significantly, builds settler colonialism as a political analysis that can embolden and inform a strategy of active, mutual, and principled Palestinian alignment with the Arab struggle for self-determination, and indigenous struggles in the US, Latin America, Oceania, and elsewhere.

Such an alignment would expand the tools available to Palestinians and their solidarity movement, and reconnect the struggle to its own history of anti-colonial internationalism. At its core, this internationalism asserts that the Palestinian struggle against Zionist settler colonialism can only be won when it is embedded within, and empowered by, the broader Arab movement for emancipation and the indigenous, anti-racist and anti-colonial movement--from Arizona to Auckland.

SOAS Palestine Society invites everyone to join us at what promises to be a significant intervention in Palestine activism and scholarship.

For over 30 years, SOAS Palestine Society has heightened awareness and understanding of the Palestinian people, their rights, culture, and struggle for self-determination, amongst students, faculty, staff, and the broader public. SOAS Palestine society aims to continuously push the frontiers of discourse in an effort to make provocative arguments and to stimulate debate and organizing for justice in Palestine through relevant conferences, and events ranging from the intellectual and political impact of Edward Said`s life and work (2004), international law and the Palestine question (2005), the economy of Palestine and its occupation (2006), the one state (2007), 60 Years of Nakba, 60 Years of Resistance (2009), and most recently, the Left in Palestine (2010).

For more information on the SOAS Palestine Society 7th annual conference, Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine: www.soaspalsoc.org

SOAS Palestine Society Organizing Collective is a group of committed students that has undertaken to organize annual academic conferences on Palestine since 2003.

 


[i] Patrick Wolfe, Settler Colonialism and the Transformation of Anthropology: The Politics and Poetics of an Ethnographic Event, Cassell, London, p. 163

[ii] Interview with Benny Morris, Survival of the Fittest, Haaretz, 9. January 2004, http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/art.php?aid=5412