The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee transits the St. Marys Channel as it departs Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia in this February 6, 2013 handout photo. The Tennessee and 13 other Ohio-class submarines are critical elements of
The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee transits the St. Marys Channel as it departs Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia in this February 6, 2013 handout photo. Reuters/James Kimber

Britain’s strategic naval base in Bahrain is courting trouble after a human rights activist announced his plan to challenge the legality of the base, as it allegedly contravenes U.K’s own stated guidelines of honouring the human rights situation in overseas projects during the investment phase. The rights activist from Bahrain has accused Britain of "sacrificing human rights at the altar of trade and military deals", by ignoring the human rights violations committed by the Bahrain government.

In December 2014, Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond officially announced a new naval base in Bahrain as a renewed commitment to Britain’s military role in the Gulf. For Britain and its allies, the base is strategic and can accommodate Britain's new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers. For the U. K, naval expansion in the Gulf was also to give strategic advantage of keeping a tab on Iran from there.

The legal challenge has come from Moosa Mohammed, a prominent Bahraini human rights activist, now based in the U.K. His case is that the Ministry of Defence did not take the human rights situation in Bahrain into account while agreeing to the £15million base, being funded primarily by Bahraini Royal family.

Sue Willman of Deighton Pierce Glynn solicitor, representing Mohammed, said: “The Overseas Security and Justice Assistance or OSJA guidance requires the Government to review the human rights record of any regimes it provides assistance to. It has failed to do that in the case of the defence base. If it has nothing to hide, why is it refusing to release documents about what assistance is being provided and to whom?”

Bahrain’s Crackdown

According to Mohammed, “The British public deserve to know why the U.K. government is collaborating so closely with Bahrain, a country which has a terrible record on human rights. Is it keeping silent about human rights abuses in Bahrain in exchange for the defence base?”

Mohammed's reference is to the crackdown on protesters in Bahrain during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the U.K. and U.S. supported the local Sunni-dominated government in cracking down on protests spearheaded by the Shia population. It was also alleged that troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia also helped Bahrain in quelling the protesters, who wanted to end the domination of the ruling al-Khalifa dynasty, which has been controlling the country for more than 200 years.

Typhoon Deal

However, the U.K Government justified its decision to set up the base, saying that it does not constitute military assistance and does not warrant an assessment of extraneous factors. Hpwever, one consequence of a court case could be the harm to Typhoon aircraft deal with Bahrain.

According to a senior British military source, UK chose the base in Bahrain as a second option and after the United Arab Emirates turned down the proposal to buy U. K’s advanced combat plane in 2013. On the other hand, Bahrain expressed interest in buying Typhoon combat jets, built by British firm BAE Systems to replace its ageing air force aircraft and the base deal was then projected as a “great opportunity for defence collaboration."

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at kalyanaussie@gmail.com)

RELATED STORIES