MacShane: Cameron ‘has a tin ear’ for freedom
Denis MacShane, Labour MP and former Foreign Office minister, comments on Bahrain’s Downing Street visit to the Guardian:
“Bahrain is like something out of Tosca or Fidelio, but this is 2011 and it is not opera taking place but real-life, real-time crushing of the human spirit.
“We have well-documented reports of torture, including the torture of women doctors, killings and even the Saudis sending tanks to Bahrain to crush the protests in the time-honoured fashion of the Soviets in Prague or Budapest.
“The prime minister is rightly calling for Gaddafi to go to the international criminal court, but the Bahraini despots who are equally guilty of repression, torture and mass arrests are being given tea and a gentle talking-to in Downing Street.
“It is just sad that David Cameron has such a tin ear to the cries for freedom from the Arab world and is supping with the torturers, not supporting the moves for democracy.”
