Bahraini opposition political framework confirmed its rejection of foreign military presence in the Kingdom, which maintains close relations with the United States and hosts on its territory the American Fifth Fleet.
In a statement issued by the February 14 Youth Coalition, it called on the Bahraini people to participate in the activities of the celebration of the “National Day for the Expulsion of the American Base” from Bahrain on the first Friday of the month of Ramadan.
“The popular merit will be renewed on the first Friday of the blessed month of Ramadan, on the National Day for the expulsion of the American base from Bahrain,” said the statement.
Stationed on the country’s side in the Juffair region through its Fifth Fleet, It represents a military occupation and a strike on Bahrain’s sovereignty,” said the statement.
The presence of foreign military bases in any country is a diminution of its sovereignty, so how if this presence is illegal? These bases only protect the dictatorial ruling regime of Bahrain. The US military base violates Bahrain’s independence and strikes the will of the Bahraini people against the wall,” added the statement.
“The time has come for the US administration to take the decision to close its military base and exit from Bahrain, along the lines of its withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq,” stressed the February 14 Youth Coalition.
The February 14 Youth Coalition also called on the US administration to remove the political cover from the caliph family in order to allow the people to run their political affairs and decisions by themselves.
For decades, this occupying military presence has resulted in nothing but scourge.
This is evidenced by the bloody Diraz massacre in 2017 in front of the home of the prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Issa Qassem.
That would not have happened had it not been for the US sponsorship and green light, according to the statement.
The February 14 Youth Coalition renewed its unwavering popular demand for the American administration to close its military base and leave Bahrain.
That is in line with international resolutions that stipulate respect for the sovereignty of states and the decisions of peoples.
“Our people have the right to demand the departure of this base through various legitimate means and methods, and it is adhering to its independence from any kind of occupation,” added the statement.
The Juffair Naval Base houses ships of the US Fifth Fleet and houses an operations room that tracks the activities and movements of American freedom ships in the Gulf waters and the Arabian Sea.
Last January, an American human rights defender of Bahraini origin called on US President Biden to review his country’s policy towards Manama.
Hussein Abdullah, executive director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, accused the United States of turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Bahrain.
He stressed that Bahrain’s use of the US Fifth Fleet bases involves security risks for Washington.
He explained that these risks could be greatly reduced or finally eliminated if Bahrain embarked on a path to end political repression, by releasing all political prisoners, holding all those who violated human rights to account.
Hussein called on the US president to consider moving the Fifth Fleet base from Bahrain if human rights violations by the authorities in Manama continued.
