UK union: Bahrain must end persecution of teachers

Bahrain must stop the jailing, sacking and persecution of pro-democracy protesters, including teachers, says Britain's trade union movement. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said it was calling again on the Bahraini regime to “drop the sentences handed out to the leaders of the Bahrain Teachers' Association, and to end its persecution of the thousands of Bahraini workers arrested, sentenced or sacked for doing nothing more than exercising their legitimate rights.” TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said he has written to Bahrain's ambassador to the UK calling for the immediate and unconditional release of those jailed and for the reinstatement of those sacked, including two BTA leaders sentenced to 10 and three years. “Their sentences were handed down by a military court in Bahrain on 25 September 2011, under procedures that Amnesty International describes as a 'charade',” Barber said. “They have been denied their right to a fair trial before an independent and impartial court,” he told the ambassador in a copy of the letter obtained by IRNA. Barber raised the two cases of Mahdi 'Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb and Jalila al-Salman with the Bahraini embassy in August, but like a previous letter in April protesting about abuse and intimidation of demonstrators, has not even had the courtesy of a reply. “Jalila and Mahdi allege that they have been subjected to beatings and abuse while in prison. Mahdi in particular was in solitary confinement for 64 days and was beaten on the head, back and legs and forced to remain standing for prolonged periods of time,” he said. “They are just two out of the hundreds, if not thousands, including journalists, teachers and medics that have been arrested, sentenced or sacked by your government this year for doing nothing more than exercising their legitimate freedoms,” the ambassador was told. The TUC said it would continue its campaign along with the global trade union movement and human rights organisations until the Bahraini authorities “respect the rights of all workers and citizens.” After returning from a visit to Bahrain in April, British trade unions warned that the country risked sliding into an “absolute dictatorship.”