A group of international lawyers are to file a “serious complaint” against the Saudi and Bahraini regimes by the end of May over their violent clampdowns on Bahraini people, an international lawyer says.
“There is a lawsuit being prepared against the monarchy [of Bahrain] and the Saudis, naming individuals, being filed in the American court through the American legal system,” Franklin Lamb, an international lawyer, told Press TV on Monday.
“That will be a very serious complaint in the Federal district court and that will apply the standards of law,” he pointed out.
“We will get it filed before the end of this month,” and then a group of five international lawyers will go to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to hold a press conference on the issue, he went on to say.
Lamb noted that the complaint will be filed based on “a very powerful law called the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act that requires all American aid cut off, in this case to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, if they engage in a serial human and civil rights violation.”
So far, the law has been applied 14 times against different countries and “Bahrain is absolutely vulnerable to this lawsuit,” the activist added.
Lamb pointed to another petition already filed with the International Criminal Court against the Manama regime, arguing, “I do not think it will go anywhere, because there were several defects in that filing.”
He criticized the United States over its role in violent crackdowns on the popular revolution in Bahrain.
“Obviously, the Americans are the ones most responsible indirectly because of the support [for the Manama regime]. Their fear now really is that if there is a regime change they will lose the base for the Fifth Fleet,” the activist added.
Lamb argued that even if their legal campaign does not succeed, it will still be beneficial to the popular movement in Bahrain, because “It will give the American public and the media of the world a chance to learn the details and because of the jurisdiction we can submit voluminous filings.”
Since mid-February, thousands of anti-government protesters in Bahrain have poured into the streets, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled the country for almost forty years.
On March 13, Saudi-led forces were dispatched to the Persian Gulf island at Manama's request to quell the countrywide protests.
According to local sources, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested so far during the government clampdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
Bahrain is home to the US Navy Fifth Fleet.
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