Bahrain Mirror-Exclusive: Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will visit Bahrain in November despite growing concerns about a crackdown on human rights in the small Gulf kingdom.

According to the "Middle East Eye" website, Charles would visit Bahrain in November on behalf of the British government and the visit is aimed at strengthening the UK's "warm bilateral relations with key partners in the region".

The website said that the UK has long had close ties with Bahrain, which hosts a British military base and buys millions of dollars of British arms every year. It is reported that the two royal families also have close ties, however, they have come under growing criticism since 2011 when Arab Spring-inspired protests in the kingdom were brutally crushed and many activists and political opponents imprisoned.

In this context, Sayed Ahmed Al-Wadaei director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said "The timing of Prince Charles visit suggests that the major human rights violations in 2016 are not in the British monarchy's mind."

Al-Wadaei considered that Prince Charles's visit not only tells Bahrain that the UK doesn't care that torture victims are on death row and critics face decades in prison, it actively endorses this repression. The crackdown has continued since and seemingly intensified again in recent months after a notable opposition Shia cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim was revoked of his citizenship and activists were arrested.

Despite this, however, the UK has repeatedly tried to emphasize its close ties to the king and sent in high-ranking military officials in to visit the country.

Bahrain was severely criticized for violating human rights. In July, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning recent human rights abuses and calling for the immediate and unconditional release of leading human rights activist Nabeel Rajab as well as many other political prisoners. Similarly, the US has also taken a stricter tone calling on Bahrain to reverse these rights violating measures.

Charles will also visit the UAE and Oman as part of the November tour.

Arabic Version