DFormula 1 is back. In Bahrain, the engines roar. Formula 1 is back in Bahrain, the silence is booming. What cannot be heard in the live broadcasts year after year: the suffering of the torture victims in the prisons. Ever since the royal family bloodily crushed the popular uprising in 2011, the protests of the relatives of the dissidents and prisoners have accompanied the Grand Prix.
Also this year, in which the racing series, which is largely fueled by Arab money, is holding the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia before it later goes to Qatar and Abu Dhabi, 21 human rights organizations are remembering the fate of those who the series races past.
Najah Yusuf, who was imprisoned in Bahrain for, among other things, criticizing the race in social media posts, has not been compensated for the injustice she suffered. In 2022, Formula 1 extended its contract with Bahrain until 2036. Yusuf, a fellow prisoner and the Bahrain Institute for Law and Democracy (BIRD) lodged a complaint with the UK contact point for violations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Guiding Principles.
Formula 1 races through Bahrain. And will not leave Najah Yusuf and the other victims behind after all.
