1ac – prisoners of conscience
Contention One – Prisoners of Conscience
The monarchy of Bahrain is pursuing a policy of discriminatory sectarian intimidation by imprisoning Shi’a protestors
Al-Jazeera ’11 “Life sentences for Bahrain dissidents” June 22 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/20116228219100399.html
Police and protesters have …more are waiting to be tried."
Trials are moving forward in military courts – no access to lawyer or safeguards make guilt-by-torture likely
Human Rights First September 8 “HRF: Bahraini “Sham” Trials Condemned” 2011
http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/4613
Washington, DC – The military trial of …that perpetuates such abuses.”
The US is complicit – the rhetorical commitment to “all people’s” democratic aspirations stopped short of translating into policy changes towards Bahrain due to strategic considerations related to the Fifth Fleet – making the US a partner of the Bahraini monarchy in the murder of its own people
Lee ‘11, 8/1/11 – activist, filmmaker, and founder of the Caipirinha Foundation, an organization that promotes global solidarity and supports peace with justice projects (Iara, “Bahrain and the True Face of US Foreign Policy,” http://bahrainfreedom.org/NEWS/NewsContent/tabid/69/ArticleId/517/Bahrain-and-the-True-Face-of-US-Foreign-Policy.aspx)
It is no coincidence that the two main … the ordinary people of Bahrain.
Despite recent prisoner releases, the Bahraini monarchy is pursuing tactics of intimidation by giving high-profile prisoners of conscience life sentences in attempt to placate the international community while continuing a policy of repression
Julliard ’11 Jean-Francois, Secretary-General of Reporters Without Borders “Democratic Opening in Bahrain Needs Release of All Prisoners of Conscience” 9/6 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeanfran/prisoners-conscience-bahrain_b_929556.html
That Bahrain released …hiding for several months.
US policy on Bahrain represents an important choice about what matters – the future security of global US military installations or the lives of real people fighting oppression – the decision to privilege abstract security concerns over violations of human rights and real suffering frames policy in a way that begets cycles of conflict yields global bloodshed
Landy and Harrison, 11 - Co-Directors, Campaign for Peace and Democracy (Joanne and Thomas, “Repression in Bahrain”, 5/16,
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jun/23/repression-bahrain/
On February 13, 2011, inspired by the … people and achieve social and economic justice.
The attempt to frame human rights as simply another concern for decision-makers to balance against counter-vailing consequences perversely brackets the concerns of real human suffering within the terms of abstract power politics where they are inexorably subordinated against the spectres of large-scale conflict scenarios. The inability to critically reformulate our discussion of rights outside of this cost-benefit analysis lies at the heart of oppression that affects by far the greatest number of lives
Falk ‘8 Richard, Professor emeritus of International Law, Princeton University “The power of rights and the rights of power: what future for human rights?” Ethics & Global Politics Vol. 1, No. 12, 2008, pp. 8196
This argument can be generalized far … and almost always go unpunished.16
And, we must keep human-rights justifications for action SEPARATE from any security justifications—the introduction of security discourse hijacks human rights into a broader “development” agenda that justifies perpetual war and intervention
Kuhn, 2008[ Florian P. Kühn, M.A./M.P.S., Research Assistant, Institute for International Politics, Helmut-SchmidtUniversity Hamburg, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043 Hamburg, P +49-40-6541-3566, florian.p.kuehn@hsu-hh.de Draft Paper prepared for the 49 th International Studies Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, March 26-29, 2008: Panel “Securitization of Development or Developmentalization of Security?” Equal Opportunities: Exploring the turning point between Securitization and Developmentalization http://opus.unibw-hamburg.de/opus/volltexte/2010/2329/pdf/isa08_proceeding_252911.pdf]
To protect the ‘own’ as well as to …claiming to avert, including war.
1ac - plan
The United States federal government should substantially increase its democracy assistance to Bahrain by supporting the release of all prisoners of conscience held by agents of the al-Khalifa monarchy, including quashing the sentences and dropping all charges pending against prisoners of conscience, as well as condemning the use of military courts to try civilians accused of crimes related to free assembly or expression.
1ac – solvency
US prioritization of security concerns over human rights is the enabling condition for the monarchy’s campaign of arrests against political dissenters, cementing the historical narrative of US foreign policy in the region that has tended to resolve political conflicts in favor of repressive police states
Fisher ‘11 May 19, 2011 – Max, an associate editor at The Atlantic, where he edits and writes for the International channel (The Bahrain Dilemma: Obama's Speech No Solution, but a Step Closer, The Atlantic, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/05/the-bahrain-dilemma-obamas-speech-no-solution-but-a-step-closer/239167/, MCL)
This past September, before the world … for the blind eye he appeared to be turning to Bahrain, like a hypocrite.
US policy towards Bahrain has made strides but is still woefully insufficient – calling for release of prisoners is key
Human Rights First ’11 “Bahrain: A Torturous Process”, July http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Bahrain_A_Tortuous_Process_July_2011.pdf
Recommendations for the U.S. …freedom of expression and assembly.
Plan is key to prioritizing human rights above oil interests and concocted security concerns
Julliard ’11 Jean-Francois, Secretary-General of Reporters Without Borders “Democratic Opening in Bahrain Needs Release of All Prisoners of Conscience” 9/6 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeanfran/prisoners-conscience-bahrain_b_929556.html
The international community must …Spring movement as well.
US action gets it done – enormous influence in Bahrain and empirically has been able to temper the monarchy’s crackdowns
Aziz and Musalem, 11 - *legal fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, an associate professor of law at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, holds an M.A. in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Texas AND **holds degrees in sociology as well as Middle Eastern language and cultures. Mr. Musalem grew up in Bahrain, where he has conducted social research, and has been a frequent visitor to the county over the past decade (Sahar and Abdullah, “Citizens, Not Subjects: Debunking the Sectarian Narrative of Bahrain’s Pro-Democracy Movement,” http://ispu.org/pdfs/640_ISPU%20Report_Bahrain_Aziz_Musalem_WEB.pdf)
Foreign Intervention by Saudi Arabia …vis-à-vis reconciliation and dialogue with the people.
Bringing increased international attention to the issue will likely be sufficient to ensure that they do not have to endure torture and life sentences – the appeals process on these trials creates a litmus test for government retaliation against dissenters
IHRC ’11 Islamic Human Rights Commission, “IHRC: Action Alert: Bahrain – Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace and Co-Defendants Face Uncertain Future” Bahrain Human Rights Centre, August 23 http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/4551
Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace, a Bahraini …Abbas Al Omran (15 years), Ali Hassan Mushaima (15 years).
Our framing of the plan constitutes a form of counter-hegemonic rights discourse that seeks to undermine the networks of privilege by positing the rights of Bahraini prisoners of conscience as a mechanism to undermine rather than reinforce violent institutions of sovereignty and identity
Basok ‘9 Tanya, Director, Centre for Studies in Social Justice, University of Windsor “Counter-hegemonic Human Rights Discourses and Migrant Rights Activism in the US and Canada” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 2009 50: 183
In this article I focus on the argumentative …(Abella, 2006; Pécoud and de Guchteneire, 2006).
Our call to change the world is a celebration of our agency to speak out against oppression where we encounter it. Do not fall
into the trap of pretending that you are separate from the world in a way that makes political engagement optional. The decision
to abandon others to their suffering is a political decision that forfeits a deeper understanding of connectedness.
May ‘5 (Todd May, prof @ Clemson. “To change the world, to celebrate life,” Philosophy & Social Criticism 2005 Vol 31 nos 5–6 pp. 517–531)
To change the world and to celebrate life. …willing to take your world up for you.
