Hamilton has been arguably the most outspoken driver on issues relating to human rights, and this week he received a letter from a prisoner in Bahrain.Īli Alhajee wrote to the seven-time champion explaining how the Mercedes star had made a difference, and explained that the political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Bahrain’s Jau prison had previously boycotted watching F1 because of its history with sports-washing. My case is just one example among thousands of the repression within Bahrain and across the Gulf.” "I was tortured at the hands of Bahraini officials and members of my family are imprisoned, in retaliation for my human rights work, including urging F1 to adopt a human rights policy, which F1 has still failed to apply. "To not take the same stance on atrocities perpetrated by the Gulf states would send the message that our lives matter less. Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who serves as director of advocacy for BIRD, said: "The FIA and F1 have taken a principled stance against the atrocities perpetrated by Russia. READ MORE: Wolff's move in Bahrain stunned FIA with teams 'exceeding imagination' Last week, a letter from the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) urged teams, the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), the FIA and F1 CEO Mr Domenicali to not overlook the atrocities in Bahrain. It's inevitable that F1 will be scrutinised." "But F1 needs to be aware of this and be prepared to speak out whether it's Bahrain, Saudi Arabia or China. The world has rightly condemned Russian barbarism in Ukraine, and F1 to its credit has taken a strong stand on it. I would hope that drivers will speak out in a consistent way. We have even seen people demonstrating peacefully against the race because they think it sports-washes Bahrain's human rights record being beaten up, locked up and exiled. “You see this with its treatment of its Shia community. "The first race this weekend is in Bahrain which has a terrible human rights record. There was the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the atrocities taking place in Yemen rival Russia's actions in Ukraine. "Any driver whose hand is shaken by the Crown Prince is shaking the hand of someone with blood on his hands. A lot of them were political prisoners, that is not a regime anybody could be happy being associated with. "For example, in Saudi Arabia, 81 people were executed in a day last week. He said: "I do think there will be and should be a continuous debate around all venues that hosts F1.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |