This event is organised by Bahrain Pro-Democracy Group in UK and Sayed Alwadaei, political activist in UK.

It is the longest and most peaceful revolution, yet the least covered by the Western media. When the youth of the Gulf island of Bahrain decided to join the Arab Spring on 14 February 2011 they were responding to the call for change that had resonated in the corners of the Arab world. Two years later, they have remained faithful to their revolutions, slogans and human values.

Their daily protests have continued against all the odds, including the political and security support by some Western governments to the antiquated Alkhalifa regime. While the British media was supportive of Bahrain’s pro-democracy protests the UK Government was less enthusiastic towards change in the political structure of a monarchy found guilty of “systematic torture” by its own commission of investigation.

These issues will be debated at a special seminar to coincide with the second anniversary of Bahrain’s 14 February Revolution. A film report highlighting the British role in Bahrain will also be shown.

Chaired by Mark McDonald, a human rights barrister and the director and principle founder of the London Innocence Project. He has lectured extensively on US death penalty litigation and constitutional law. He is the founder of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.

The Panel:

Dr Ala’a Shehabi, a Bahraini researcher and writer, and founding member of Bahrain Watch, an advocacy group campaigning for transparency and accountability in Bahrain.  She is currently an ACSS research fellow and has a PhD in economics from Imperial College London.

Farida Ghulam, a member of the Board of National Democratic Action Society “WAAD”. She is active within the women’s movement and plays a leading role in the political affairs in Bahrain. She is also the wife of the liberal secular left opposition figure and president of WAAD, Ibrahim Sharif, whose 5 years prison sentence in a military court has been upheld twice on appeal.

John Lubbock, a research and advocacy officer for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights in London. He has a Masters in international politics and human rights from City University, London.

Mike Diboll, currently researching the cultural, generational and social transformation of the GCC region with a focus on higher education. He was professor of Comparative Literature at UAEU 2002-2007, University of Bahrain 2007-2009, Academic Head of CPD, Bahrain Teachers College 2009-2011.

Craig Murray, an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004 and Rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010.

On February 14 2011 just days after Mubarak fell in Egypt, the Bahraini people began a popular uprising that has been unabated. Nabeel Rajab, the most prominent human rights activist has just been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment, whilst 13 other activists have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

We will be asking why do we hear very little about events in Bahrain in the media? What strategies has the Bahraini regime adopted to win the media battle, as well as the daily battles on the street? We will also be presenting the findings of a research project on the PR companies employed by the regime.

As well as discussing the PR war, the panel of experts will discuss the prospects of accountability for torture and related abuses inside and outside of Bahrain.Officials accused of torture are frequent visitors to the UK, most recently the King’s son, Nasser Bin Hamad was a VIP guest at the Olympics. What kind of legal action can be taken in the UK, given Britain’s supportive foreign policy to the Bahraini regime?

A film report highlighting the plight of detained athletes will also be shown.

Chaired by Brian Whitaker, journalist for The Guardian since 1987 and its Middle East editor from 2000-2007. He is currently an editor on the paper’s “Comment Is Free” section. He runs, Al-Bab.com, about politics in the Arab world and is author of What’s Really Wrong with the Middle East.

With:

Mohammad Al Tajir, a human rights lawyer who was detained last year for his outspoken criticism of Bahrain’s judiciary and defending several detained activists.

Marc Owen Jones, a doctoral candidate at Durham University and member of advocacy group Bahrain Watch. His research focus is on how social media functions as a tool of surveillance and social control in Bahrain. He also writes a blog that documents, among other things, the role PR companies play in marginalising dissent and whitewashing human rights violations.

Carla Ferstman, the Director of REDRESS, an international human rights organisation that assists torture survivors to seek justice.

Adam Hundt, a human rights solicitor and partner in Deighton Pierce Glynn who specialises in cases against the UK government, in particular for migrants and refugees. More recently he successfully represented a client who had been tortured abroad with the knowledge and complicity of the British security services.