Specter of ISIL haunts Bahrain's elections

On Nov. 9, Bahrain will host an international conference aimed at combating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The location is an ironic choice, since the regime has fueled the sort of dangerous sectarianism that launched ISIL over the last few years. Bahrain’s top Cabinet posts and security forces are drawn almost exclusively from the Sunni branch of Islam, and government supporters portray legitimate demands for democratic reform as Iranian-inspired Shia agitation.

The summit comes as the kingdom prepares to hold parliamentary elections on Nov. 22. Bahrain needs free and fair elections to build a genuinely inclusive politics and help delegitimize the extremism of ISIL and other groups. U.S. and European representatives must stress that during Sunday’s conference.

In 2011, after an international outcry over violent crackdown on peaceful protests during the Bahrain uprising, the king ordered the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) to conduct an investigation. The BICI report delivered to the king in November 2011 highlighted the incitement of sectarianism in Bahrain’s state media as a problem.

I was among the hundreds of journalists, activists, diplomats and others who attended the delivery ceremony at the palace. The commission’s head, Cherif Bassiouni, confirmed what some of us already knew: Thousands of people were dismissed from their jobs, thousands more detained by security forces and many tortured in custody, some until they died.

The king pledged to respond positively to the report, adding that the recommendations “involve fundamental issues and must be dealt with urgently.” Three years on, the political unrest continues. Thousands of people, including key opposition leaders, remain in prison. 

Sectarianism has deepened, and the kingdom is now more polarized than it was in 2011. Human rights activists continue to be targeted and jailed. Authorities increasingly criminalize all forms of dissent. Prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab is on trial for tweeting, “Many #Bahrain men who joined #terrorism & #ISIS  came from security institutions and those institutions were the first ideological incubator.” His verdict is due on Jan. 20, and he could be sentenced to six years in prison.

The country’s main opposition groups are boycotting the elections, citing an unfair electoral process and concerns about rigging. Last week a Bahraini court suspended the main opposition group, Al-Wefaq, which draws its political support largely from the Shia community, for three months, on the grounds of irregularities in how they organized their annual meetings. The suspension is apparently not being enforced until December.

As the election campaign heats up, the coming weeks are likely to witness a spike in sectarian rhetoric on social media as well as intimidation and violence, further exposing the country’s divisions. A candidate’s car was recently bombed, according to local newspaper reports, leading the country’s Cabinet to condemn “the recent violent and systematic intimidation campaign staged against electoral candidates,” the Bahrain state news agency reported. While it is hard to know who is behind such attacks, ISIL-related extremism is a growing problem. About 100 Bahraini men, including a former police lieutenant who appeared in a video urging Bahraini security personnel to join him, have so far volunteered to join ISIL.

The government has a poor record on transparency, due process and holding perpetrators accountable. International monitors could play an important role providing objective analysis and documenting incidents of intimidation, incitement of sectarianism and other electoral irregularities. But authorities say there will not be any international observers during the upcoming elections because they are supposedly not required.

Bahrain needs inclusive elections that put people into parliament who have the power to represent the people’s wishes. Instead there will be a process that will deepen the country’s political crisis and likely see a rise in street politics and extremism, exactly the sort of atmosphere in which ISIL thrives. The U.S. and other Bahraini allies at Sunday’s conference should tell the ruling elites that if they want to fight ISIL, a key weapon is real democracy.