Formula One has been accused of “looking the other way” by human rights groups in the case of an activist who was beaten, sexually abused and jailed for protesting against the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Najah Yusuf, who was imprisoned after a series of Facebook posts in April 2017 that were critical of the race and the regime, has not been allowed to see her family for six months.
F1 initially said it had “concerns” about Yusuf’s case, but in a letter to Human Rights Watch and the Bahraini Institute of Rights and Democracy (BIRD) on Monday, it said it had been assured that Yusuf’s conviction “had nothing to do with peaceful protest around the Bahrain Grand Prix.”
In a letter seen by the Guardian, it added that the Bahraini government had also promised that “anyone who merely criticized or continues to criticize Formula 1 in Bahrain is free to do so.”
F1’s willingness to accept the word of the Bahraini regime has infuriated human rights groups, who point out that the court judgement against Yusuf said she had written “no to Formula races on occupied Bahraini land” in one post, while in another she claimed that F1 coming to her country was “nothing more than a way for the [ruling] Al Khalifa family to whitewash their criminal record and gross human-rights violations.”
She also called for a “Freedom for the Formula Detainees” march to highlight protestors who had been jailed for criticizing the race, which was canceled in 2011 after demonstrations in the country.
Human Rights Watch Lebanon and Bahrain researcher Aya Majzoub said F1 was guilty of “looking the other way” and was “complicit in Bahrain’s attempted use of the Grand Prix to whitewash those abuses.”
“Taking the Bahraini government’s assurances that no punitive measures will be directed against activists for peacefully opposing the Grand Prix is absurd given Bahrain’s track record of repressive measures to close down protests opposing the races in the country,” she said.
BIRD director of advocacy Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei said he was stunned at F1’s response.
It sent the world an “appalling message that its supposed commitment to human rights in reality means nothing” just weeks before this month’s Bahrain Grand Prix, he added.
Meanwhile, British politician Paul Scriven said he would be pressing Yousif’s case with senior F1 figures next week.
“It is clear the senior people running F1 are not taking their responsibilities seriously in dealing with human rights abuses,” he said. “If F1 leaders won’t deal with human rights abuses that are directly linked to their sporting events, then maybe it’s time to take the case direct to the sponsors, teams and individual drivers.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but