Bahrain: an R2P blind spot?

Abstract

The ‘Arab Spring' has catalysed an intense debate about the efficacy of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). These debates have primarily focused on Libya and Syria; in this article I argue that the international community’s engagement with Bahrain, though generally overlooked, also has major implications for assessments of the contemporary efficacy of R2P. This article provides a brief overview of the 2011 uprising in Bahrain and events since before assessing whether Bahrain constitutes an ‘R2P situation'. Having concluded that Bahrain does meet the ‘R2P situation' criteria I detail how key actors integral to the implementation of R2P have engaged with Bahrain. In analysing this engagement I argue that Bahrain demonstrates that the permanent five members of the Security Council continue to prioritise national interests over the protection of human rights; that NGOs specifically focused on R2P apply the concept selectively; that R2P has not become a ‘lens' through which intra-state humanitarian crises are viewed; and that states can avoid international censure by undertaking certain policies which enable them to violate R2P’s principles without incurring significant costs.

Keywords:

• Responsibility to Protect
• Bahrain
• NGOs
• Security Council
• torture

Notes on contributor

Dr Aidan Hehir is a Reader in International Relations at the University of Westminster. He gained his PhD in 2005 and has previously worked at the University of Limerick and the University of Sheffield. His research interests include the responsibility to protect, humanitarian intervention, and the laws governing the use of force. He is co-convenor of the BISA Working Group on the Responsibility to Protect and is currently working on an ESRC-funded three-year project on ‘The Responsibility to Protect and Liberal Norms’. He has published widely, including the following books: Libya, The Responsibility to Protect, and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, co-editor); Humanitarian Intervention: An Introduction 2nd Edition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 and 2013); The Responsibility to Protect: Rhetoric, Reality and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); International Law, Security and Ethics (Routledge, 2010 and 2014, co-editor); Kosovo, Intervention and Statebuilding (Routledge, 2010, editor); Humanitarian Intervention after Kosovo (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); Statebuilding: Theory and Practice (Routledge, 2007 and 2009, co-editor).

Notes

1 Alex Bellamy, The Responsibility to Protect: A Defence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 111.

2 Aidan Hehir, ‘From Human Security to the Responsibility to Protect: The Co-Option of Dissent?’, Michigan State International Law Review 23, no. 3 (2015): 675–99; Justin Morris, ‘Libya and Syria: R2P and the Spectre of the Swinging Pendulum’, International Affairs 89, no. 5 (2013): 1265–83.

3 A number of NGOs specifically focused on Bahrain have released reports outlining the continued repression and lack of reform post-2011. These include the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, and Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. Their analysis is not included here, nor is that of the Bahraini government.

4 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ‘Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, 23 November 2015, 68 and 162, http://www.bici.org.bh/BICIreportEN.pdf (accessed 26 June 2015).

5 Ibid., 72.

6 Ibid., 82.

7 Ibid., 83.

8 Ibid., 83.

9 Ibid., 164.

10 Ibid., 98.

11 Ibid., 142.

12 Asharq Al-Awsat, ‘A Talk with Peninsula Shield Force Commander Mutlaq Bin Salem al-Azima’, Asharq Al-Awsat, 28 March 2011, http://www.aawsat.net/2011/03/article55247010/a-talk-with-peninsula-shield-force-commander-mutlaq-bin-salem-al-azima (accessed 26 June 2015).

13 Silvia Colombo, ‘The GCC Countries and the Arab Spring', in The Arab Spring and the Arab Thaw, ed. John Davies (Surrey: Ashgate, 2013), 169.

14 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Bahrain’, New York, 14 March 2011, http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=5137 (accessed 26 June 2015).

15 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ‘Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, 134.

16 Ibid., 419.

17 Ibid., 166.

18 Ibid., 416.

19 ICG, ‘Bahrain's Rocky Road to Reform’, Middle East/North Africa Report No. 111, 28 July 2011, 1.

20 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ‘Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, 148.

21 Ibid., 159.

22 Ibid., 329.

23 International Crisis Group, ‘Bahrain's Rocky Road to Reform’, 4.

24 Anthony Shadid, ‘Bahrain Boils Under the Lid of Repression’, New York Times, 15 September, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/world/middleeast/repression-tears-apart-bahrains-social-fabric.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2 (accessed 26 June 2015).

25 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ‘Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, 298.

26 Ibid., 152.

27 Ibid., 417.

28 Ibid., 219–25.

29 Ibid., 300.

30 The European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, ‘Submission to Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry: Re. Specific Incidents of Violence Against Peaceful Protestors in the Kingdom of Bahrain and Their Widespread and Systemic Character’, 9 September 2011, 2.

31 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ‘Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, 268.

32 Ibid., 422.

33 House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, ‘The UK's Relationship with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: Volume I’, 11.

34 Ibid., 89.

35 ‘44 International NGOs: Release Bahraini Human Rights Activist NOW’, http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5388 (accessed 26 June 2015).

36 Bill Law, ‘Bahrain Urged to Free Jailed Activists to End Unrest’, BBC News, 19 March 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21845329 (accessed 26 June 2015).

37 Human Rights Watch, ‘Bahrain: No Progress on Reform’, 28 February, 2013, http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/28/bahrain-no-progress-reform (accessed 26 June 2015).

38 Foreign Commonwealth Office, ‘Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy 2013’, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmfaff/551/55106.htm#a9 (accessed 26 June 2015).

39 FIDH, ‘Failed Promises in Bahrain’, 13 February 2014, https://www.fidh.org/International-Federation-for-Human-Rights/north-africa-middle-east/bahrain/14659-failed-promises-in-bahrain-human-rights-violations-linger-on (accessed 26 June 2015).

40 BBC, ‘Expelled US Diplomat Tom Malinowski Condemns Bahrain’, 8 July 2014, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28221189 (accessed 26 June 2015).

41 Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, ‘Opinions Adopted by the Working Group at its Sixty-ninth Session: No. 1/2014 (Bahrain)’, 21 July 2014, 4, http://adhrb.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Tagi-al-Maidan-WGAD-Decision.pdf, (accessed 26 June 2015).

42 ‘Joint Statement on the OHCHR and the Human Rights Situation in Bahrain’, 26th Session of the Human Rights Council, Item 2, 10 June 2014, https://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/231408541?access_key=key-LRbCUldbORWFRmxvCMHI&allow_share=true&escape=false&view_mode=scroll (accessed 26 June 2015).

43 Emanuel Stoakes, ‘Whatever Happened to Bahrain's Torture Reforms?’, Foreign Policy, 30 March 2015, http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/30/bahrain-reforms-torture/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

44 Human Rights Watch, ‘World Report 2013: Bahrain’, http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/bahrain (accessed 26 June 2015).

45 Human Rights Watch, ‘World Report 2014: Bahrain’, http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/bahrain?page=2 (accessed 26 June 2015).

46 Human Rights Watch, ‘World Report 2015: Bahrain’, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/bahrain?page=1 (accessed 26 June 2015).

47 Reporters Without Borders, ‘Media Freedom Still Under Attack in Bahrain’, 11 March 2015, http://en.rsf.org/bahrain-media-freedom-still-under-attack-11-03-2015,47675.html (accessed 26 June 2015).

48 Reporters Without Borders, ‘World Press Freedom Index 2015’, http://index.rsf.org/#!/index-details (accessed 26 June 2015).

49 Freedom House, ‘Freedom in the World 2015’, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2015#.VXhP-s9Viko (accessed 26 June 2015).

50 Genocide Prevention Advisory Network, ‘Risk of New Onsets of Genocide and Politicide in 2013’, http://www.gpanet.org/content/risks-new-onsets-genocide-and-politicide-2013 (accessed 26 June 2015).

51 Genocide Prevention Advisory Network, ‘Countries at Risk of Genocide, Politicide or Mass Atrocities', http://www.gpanet.org/content/countries-risk-genocide-politicide-or-mass-atrocities-2012 (accessed 26 June 2015).

52 Antoun Issa, ‘Bassiouni: Bahrain's Progress Limited by “Piecemeal” Approach to Reforms’, Al-Monitor, 13 June 2014, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/06/cherif-bassiouni-bici-bahrain-uprising-violations.html# (accessed 26 June 2015).

53 Amnesty International, ‘Amnesty International Report 2014/15: Kingdom of Bahrain’, 2015, https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/bahrain/report-bahrain/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

54 Amnesty International, ‘Bahrain: Hopes of Reform Crushed Amid Chilling Crackdown on Dissent, 15 April 2015. https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/04/bahrain-hopes-of-reform-crushed-amid-chilling-crackdown-on-dissent/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

55 Amnesty International, Behind the Rhetoric (Amnesty International: London, 2015), 6 and 9.

56 Gareth Evans, The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and For All (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2008), 56–8.

57 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Implementing the Responsibility to Protect’, UN General Assembly A/63/677, 12 January 2009, 8–9.

58 Gareth Evans, ‘From an Idea to an International Norm’, Responsibility to Protect, ed. Richard H. Cooper and Juliette V. Kohler (Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009), 79; Jennifer Welsh, ‘What Next for R2P?’, Hague Institute for Global Justice, 27 October 2014, http://www.thehagueinstituteforglobaljustice.org/index.php?page=News-News_Articles-Recent_News-Whats_Next_for_R2P_Dr_Jennifer_Welsh_on_the_Responsibility_to_Protect&pid=138&id=303 (accessed 26 June 2015).

59 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Implementing the Responsibility to Protect’, 28.

60 Bellamy, The Responsibility to Protect, 56.

61 Alex Bellamy, ‘The Responsibility to Protect and the 2014 Conflict in Gaza’, E-International Relations, July 22 2014, http://www.e-ir.info/2014/07/22/the-responsibility-to-protect-and-the-2014-conflict-in-gaza/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

62 See, Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, ‘Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes: A Tool for Prevention’, 2014, http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/pdf/framework%20of%20analysis%20for%20atrocity%20crimes_en.pdf (accessed 26 June 2015).

63 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Responsibility to Protect: State Responsibility and Prevention’, A/67/929, 9 July 2013, 2.

64 Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, ‘Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes’, iii.

65 Ibid., 2.

66 The BICI report found that 35 people had died during the 2011 unrest; Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ‘Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, 219.

67 Human Rights Watch, ‘Bahrain's Human Rights Crisis’, News, 5 July 2011, http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/07/05/bahrains-human-rights-crisis (accessed 26 June 2015).

68 This restricted understanding of war crimes is arguably no longer tenable, however, since the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) ruling during the 1995 ‘Tadic Case’; see, Antonio Cassese, International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 437. Nonetheless, ‘war crimes’ have not been alleged in the context of Bahrain by any of the international NGOs discussed above.

69 Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, ‘Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes’, 3.

70 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ‘Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, 300.

71 Freedom House, ‘Freedom in the World 2014: Bahrain’, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2014/bahrain#.VXhQVs9Viko (accessed 26 June 2015).

72 Amnesty International, Behind the Rhetoric, 6.

73 Issa, ‘Bassiouni: Bahrain's Progress Limited by “Piecemeal” Approach to Reforms’.

74 Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, ‘Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes’, iii.

75 Ibid., 6.

76 A case could be made for the other six, and would no doubt be made by NGOs specifically focused on Bahrain. The eight chosen are derived from the evidence presented by international NGOs and the BICI Report.

77 International Crisis Group, ‘Bahrain's Rocky Road to Reform’, 1.

78 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ‘Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, 300.

79 Freedom House, ‘Freedom in the World 2014: Bahrain’.

80 House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, ‘The UK's Relationship with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: Volume I’, 89.

81 International Crisis Group, ‘Bahrain's Rocky Road to Reform’, ii.

82 Evans, The Responsibility to Protect, 137; Bellamy, The Responsibility to Protect, 11; Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Implementing the Responsibility to Protect’, 25.

83 Aidan Hehir, ‘The Permanence of Inconsistency: Libya, The Security Council and the Responsibility to Protect’, International Security 38, no. 1 (2013): 137–59; Theresa Reinold, ‘The Responsibility to Protect: Much Ado About Nothing?’, Review of International Studies 36, no. S1 (2010): 55–78.

84 Thomas Weiss, ‘Military Humanitarianism: Syria Hasn't Killed It’, The Washington Quarterly 37, no. 1 (2014): 7–20; Ed Luck, ‘The Responsibility to Protect at Ten: The Challenges Ahead’, Stanley Foundation Policy Analysis Brief, May 2015, http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/publications/pab/LuckPAB515.pdf (accessed 26 June 2015); Alex Bellamy and Paul Williams, ‘The New Politics of Protection? Cote d'Ivoire, Libya and the Responsibility to Protect’, International Affairs 82, no. 7 (2011): 825–50.

85 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Fulfilling our Collective: International Assistance and the Responsibility to Protect’, A/68/947, 11 July 2014, 20.

86 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Responsibility to Protect: Timely and Decisive Response: Report of the Secretary-General’, A/66/874, 25 July 2012, 2.

87 Full list of statements available at, http://www.un.org/sg/statements/sgstatssearchFull.asp (accessed 26 June 2015).

88 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Concerned at Violence in Bahrain, Ban Calls for Restraint and Dialogue’, UN News Centre, 13 April 2011, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38105&Cr=bahrain&Cr1=#.VXbhIs9Vikp (accessed 26 June 2015).

89 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’, New York, 24 November 2011, http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=5708 (accessed 26 June 2015).

90 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Bahrain’, New York, 1 November 2012, http://www.un.org/sg/statements/?nid=6395 (accessed 26 June 2015).

91 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Bahrain’, New York, 8 January 2013, http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=6541 (accessed 26 June 2015).

92 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Bahrain’, New York, 3 March 2014, http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=7500 (accessed 26 June 2015).

93 All six reports can be accessed via http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/about-rtop/core-rtop-documents (accessed 26 June 2015).

94 Freedom House, ‘Freedom in the World 2014: Bahrain’.

95 Geneive Abdo and Lulwa Rizkallah, ‘Falling Dominoes’, National Interest, 31 December 2014, http://nationalinterest.org/feature/falling-dominos-bahrains-sectarian-turmoil-11945 (accessed 26 June 2015).

96 The countries are, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Cote D'Ivorie, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka and the DRC. See, http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

97 Evans, ‘From an Idea to an International Norm’, 16; Samantha Power, ‘Foreword', in Responsibility to Protect, ed. Richard H. Cooper and Juliette V. Kohler (Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009), x; Anne-Marie Slaughter, ‘A Day to Celebrate But Hard Work Ahead’, Foreign Policy, 18 March 2011.

98 The aims and strategy of each organisation can be found on their websites; GCR2P, http://www.globalr2p.org/about_us#history; ICRtoP, http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/about-coalition/founding-purposes; APCR2P, http://www.r2pasiapacific.org/about (accessed 26 June 2015).

99 Ryan D'Souza, email message to author, 9 June 2015.

100 GCR2P, ‘R2P Monitor’, http://www.globalr2p.org/our_work/r2p_monitor (accessed 26 June 2015).

101 GCR2P, ‘Populations at Risk’, http://www.globalr2p.org/regions/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

102 GCR2P, ‘Publications’, http://www.globalr2p.org/publications/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

103 On 25 January 2012 the GCR2P published a tweet about a speech given by Navi Pillay in which she discussed the uprisings across the Middle East, including Bahrain.

104 Ibid.; on 3 March 2012 GCR2P published a Facebook post about a speech given by Navi Pillay about uprisings across the Middle East, including Bahrain.

105 Twitter correspondence with author, 5 June 2015.

106 On 13 April 2012 the ICRtoP retweeted an Amnesty International report.

107 On 9 May 2012 the ICRtoP posted a link to an ICG report on Bahrain.

108 APCR2P, ‘Ideas in Brief’, http://www.r2pasiapacific.org/index.html?page=187568 (accessed 26 June 2015).

109 APCR2P, ‘Newsletters’, http://www.r2pasiapacific.org/index.html?page=189076 (accessed 26 June 2015).

110 APCR2P, ‘Publications’, http://www.r2pasiapacific.org/index.html?page=187762 (accessed 26 June 2015).

111 Global Responsibility to Protect, http://www.brill.com/cn/global-responsibility-protect (accessed 26 June 2015).

112 The seven are: 22 November 2011, on the release of the BICI report; 16 April 2012, a link to an ICG report; 28 September 2012, posted Bahrain's call at the General Assembly for action on Syria; 8 January 2013, posted a link on the jailing of Bahraini dissidents; 24 April 2013, posted a link to a New York Times article on the cancellation of the UN special rapporteur's visit to Bahrain; 28 December 2014, posted a link on women protestors in Middle East including in Bahrain; 30 December 2014, posted a photo from UN Human Rights on freedom of expression in Bahrain.

113 The Montreal Institute for Genocide Prevention published a tweet on 25 January 2012 about a speech by Navi Pillay in which she mentioned Bahrain; the Will to Intervene Project published a tweet on 22 February 2012 with a link to an article in the Ottawa Citizen on Bahrain.

114 GCR2P, retweeted from reported.ly, 12 June 2015.

115 ICRtoP, retweeted from Child Soldiers Int., 31 March 2015.

116 GCR2P, retweeted from NZ Mission to the UN, 22 May 2015.

117 ICRtoP, retweeted from 1 for 7 Billion, 27 April 2015.

118 GCR2P, retweeted from UK_UN New York, 21 May 2015.

119 ICRtoP, retweeted from CoalitionfortheICC, 22 April 2015.

120 GCR2P, retweeted from RaMurmokaite, 30 April 2015.

121 APCR2P, Twitter, 18 June 2015.

122 APCR2P, Twitter, 29 April 2015.

123 APCR2P, Twitter, 21 April 2015.

124 House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, ‘The UK's Relationship with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: Volume I’, 84.

125 Eliot Abrams, ‘How Obama Caved on Bahrain’, Foreign Policy, 27 February 2015, https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/27/how-obama-caved-on-bahrain-manama-human-rights/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

126 Michael Gordon, ‘U.S. Lifts Ban on Bahrain Aid’, The New York Times, 29 June 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/30/world/middleeast/us-lifts-ban-on-bahrain-aid.html?ref=topics (accessed 10 July 2015).

127 House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, ‘The UK's Relationship with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: Volume I’, 85.

128 Ibid., 5.

129 BBC, ‘UK to Establish £15 Permanent Middle East Military Base’, BBC News, 6 December 2014, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30355953 (accessed 26 June 2015).

130 Both states have issued some public rebukes to the monarchy, though not through the Security Council.

131 Bellamy, ‘The Responsibility to Protect and the 2014 Conflict in Gaza'.

132 Jonathan Graubart, ‘NGOs and the Security Council’, in The UN Security Council and the Politics of International Authority, ed. Bruce Cronin and Ian Hurd (London: Routledge, 2008), 154–72.

Chase Madar, ‘Hawks for Humanity’, Al Jazeera, January 21, 2014, http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/1/hawks-for-humanity.html (accessed 26 June 2015)

133 Aidan Hehir, ‘A Propensity to Ignore?’, E-International Relations, 15 July 2014, http://www.e-ir.info/2014/07/15/a-propensity-to-ignore-r2p-advocacy-and-the-crisis-in-gaza/ (accessed 26 June 2015).

134 Evans, The Responsibility to Protect, 33.

135 Thomas Weiss, Thinking about Global Governance (London: Routledge, 2011), 120; David Hollenbach, Driven From Home (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2010), 221; Abiodun Williams and Jonas Claes, ‘Leadership and the Responsibility to Protect’, in The Routledge Handbook of the Responsibility to Protect ed. Andy Knight and Frazer Egerton (London: Routledge, 2012), 130.

136 Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Early Warning, Assessment and the Responsibility to Protect’, A/64/864, 14 July 2010, 4.

137 The Auschwitz Institute published a tweet on 19 July 2012 linking to an article in E-International Relations; and another on 31 October 2012 linking to a report by the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.

138 Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, ‘No Progress, No Peace’, 20 September 2012, 7, http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5422 (accessed 26 June 2015).

139 Indicatively, the ICG described Bahrain as ‘an existential issue’ for Saudi Arabia. International Crisis Group, ‘Bahrain's Rocky Road to Reform’, 21.

140 House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, ‘The UK's Relationship with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: Volume I’, 11–12.

141 Cynthia O'Murchu and Simon Kerr, ‘Bahrain Land Deals Highlight Alchemy of Making Money from Sand’, Financial Times, 10 December 2014.

142 Paul Weaver, ‘Why This Year's Bahrain Grand Prix Should Not be Taking Place’, The Guardian, 16 February 2012, http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/feb/16/bahrain-grand-prix-bernie-ecclestone (accessed 26 June 2015).

143 ‘Statement of the Kingdom of Bahrain at the Sixty-Seventh Session of the UN General Assembly’, 27 September 2012, 3, http://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/67/BH_en.pdf (accessed 26 June 2015); Editorial Board, ‘Bahrain's Rulers Now Flout the US Openly’, Washington Post, 22 June 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bahrains-rulers-now-flout-the-us-openly/2015/06/19/049c3356-1516-11e5-89f3-61410da94eb1_story.html (accessed 26 June 2015).

144 Abrams, ‘How Obama Caved on Bahrain’; Editorial Board, ‘Bahrain's Rulers Now Flout the US Openly'.

145 Tweet from @kenRoth, 21 January 2015.

146 Gareth Evans, ‘The Responsibility to Protect in Action’, Courier, 24 June 2015, http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/resources.cfm?id=721&article=1 (accessed 26 June 2015).

147 ‘Statement of the Kingdom of Bahrain at the Sixty-Seventh Session of the UN General Assembly’, 4.

148 Human Rights Watch, ‘Bahrain's Human Rights Crisis’.

149 International Crisis Group, ‘Bahrain's Rocky Road to Reform’, 21.

150 Bellamy, The Responsibility to Protect: A Defence, 89.