?bahrain security forces: Nationals or mercenaries

محروم.كوم · #1 03-02-2012, 11:10 PM

http://mohamedcj.posterous.com/bahra...ls-or-mercenar

The use of mercenaries* in Libya during the Arab spring movement last year waswell known. The Gaddafi regime recruited militiamen and snipers from sub-Saharan Africa. However, only little is known to most people about the use of Asian mercenaries in the Bahraini uprising. According to Reuters, opposition activists estimate that up to half of Bahrain’s approximately 20,000-strong national security apparatus is made up of Sunnis from Pakistan, Jordan and Yemen.
On 14 February last year, Bahrain swell with protests which were spread along more than 26 locations. Security forces weren't ready to deal with this big amount of protesters. This was especially evident on the first day when police had to move from one location to another to crackdown on protesters, unlike the situation now where they can handle protests in various locations at the same time. However, requirting of mercenaries goes before the fourtenth of February.
In 2009 the Bahrain Center for Human Rights revealed in a report about theNational Security Agency that 64% of it's employees were non-citizents. In their recent report "Human price of freedom and justice", Bahrain rights revealed that in 2009 a Bahraini security delegation was in the Pakistani town of Makran. The security delegation is said to be working to recruit men from this city, who belong to the Baluch tribes in Pakistan, to work as "mercenaries" in the Bahraini security services.

More reqruitment

One of the adverts placed in Pakistani papers, reading: 'Urgent Need for Bahrain National Guard'
When security forces failed to control protesters, they were ordered to retreat and protesters were allowed to occupy Pearl roundabout, the iconic monument of the uprising. While opposition activist were busy organizing huge protests to various locations in the country, the Government was even busier recruiting more security forces. Ministry of Interior annouced that 20,000 jobs in Public security forces were available for Bahraini citizents only.

However, curious advertisements started appearing in Pakistani media. "Urgent requirement - manpower for Bahrain National Guard," said one. "For service in Bahrain National Guard, the following categories of people with previous army and police experience are urgently needed," said another. Nabeel Rajab told Al Jazeera that about this issue:

At least 2,500 former servicemen were recruited by Bahrainis and brought to Manama, increasing the size of their national guard and riot police by as much as 50 per cent. We know that continued airplanes are coming to Bahrain and bringing soldiers from Pakistan. We do not know the exact number, but we know that it is much more than 1,500 or 2,000 people.

Identification cards of a Pakistani officier
Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel, who has extensive experience in South Asia, says Bahrain has been recruiting Pakistani veterans for decades. But he says the eruption of the pro-democracy demonstrations in the Gulf state in March has sparked a sharp increase in the recruiting.
This winter, when the very serious demonstrations began and it looked like the regime might even be toppled at a certain point, their hiring of mercenaries went up substantially. And they began sending out basically want ads in major Pakistani newspapers advertising well-paying jobs in the Bahraini police and the Bahraini National Guard for any experienced soldier or policeman in Pakistan.

The Fauji Foundation

The Fauji Foundation was set up in 1954 and serves as a trust for ex-servicemen and their families. According to the Pakitani Tribune, it is believed to be among the largest industrial conglomerates in Pakitan and has close connections with the military. It was reponsible for handling recruitments on the ground in Pakistan. Upon arriving to Bahrain, they were recruited into the special forces, the national guard, and the riot police. With about 1,200,000 people, of which only 540,000 are citizents, Bahrain has an army of about 13,000 and a Natioal Guard of 2,000, according to the US State Department. According to Al Jazeera, the size of the National Guard have been more than doubled by the recent recruitments of mostly Baluch servicemen. Fahad Desmukh, a former resident of Bahrain who now lives in Pakistan said:

Pakistanis, particularly Baluchs, make up a large part of the Bahraini force. They are extremely visible on the streets - so visible that the protestors were recently responding to the police in Urdu, knowing they did not speak Arabic. ( of protesters chanting
'police are crazy' in Urdu.)

When he was asked to comment, a Pakistani embassy spokesman said the recruitment of veterans is done through private channels and has nothing to do with the Pakistani government. The Foreign Office spokesperson said at the time that “these Pakistanis are not being sent by the government of Pakistan. They are employed in Bahrain in their individual capacity.
Other nationalities

It has been reported that security officiers were also brought from Jordan, Syria and Yemen. Most of them are Sunni Muslims in concerted effort to swing balance in Shia-majority Bahrain, says analysts, but that's not our topic. Also, Iraqi Ba'athists who served in Saddam Hussein's security forces were recruited after the US-led invasion in 2003. According to Bahrain Mirror, more than 3,000 Jordanian police officiers were sent to Bahrain, a news that was denied by the Jordanian government. This was revealed when 3 of them were injuried during clashes with protesters.
In June 2011, amidst rumors that Indonesian mercenaries were hired to quell protesters as well, Indonesian Defensive Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, while denying such claims, did in fact say that representatives from the Bahraini government had been to Malaysia to recruit soldiers.
The question?

So, are Bahrain security forces mercenaries? Well, not all of them are, but for sure a big percentage is, maybe 50+% of them are indeed multinational mercenaries.

*According to the UN Convention Against Mercenaries, a mercenary is any person who:
● Is specifically recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;
● Is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and functions in the armed forces of that party;
● Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict;
● Is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and
● Has not been sent by a State which is not a party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

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