BAHRAIN
Si,—There will be no disagreement with your plea for Britain to 'begin on the urgently needed revision of the entire Persian Gulf relation- ship.' This long-overdue reform is highlighted by such things as (a) the Iraqi threat to Kuwait's inde- pendence, and Britain's involvement, (b) the release of the three Bahrainis from their wrongful imprison- ment in St. Helena, and (c) the absence, at this criti- cal juncture, of diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia owing to failure to settle the long-standing dispute over the Buraimi Oasis.
To bring about the changes required is a long-term process involving prolonged consideration by Par- liament, followed by amending legislation. However, there is, I suggest, some action that could be taken now to make impossible a repetition of the shameful farce of St. Helena.
In order to legalise the removal of the Bahrainis from their homeland (a British-protected State) to St. Helena (a British Colony), recourse was had to the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act of 1869 which was made effective in Bahrain by extending to it the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, a procedure that can be applied to any British-protected State. It would appear, however, that the Foreign Jurisdiction Act is not precise as to the manner in which individuals it is wished to remove should be brought within its provisions. Should not all individuals whom it is pro- posed to remove under this Act be brought before a Court of British instance (i.e. a Mixed Court or one of HM's Courts), whether they have previously been tried before a local court or not? The purpose of this would be to determine, not whether they have been 'validly' tried in accordance with local laws (which, as in Bahrain, may be virtually non-existent), but whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant them being brought under British jurisdiction. This procedure would afford to individuals the same kind of safeguard as is afforded in cases of extradition, where sufficient evidence is required be- fore a person is allowed to pass from the protection of British jurisdiction into the hands of an extraditing country.
Could not this safeguard be made law simply by the promulgation of an Order in Council?—Yours faithfully,
WILLIAM 0. LITTLE
13A Edge Wimbledon„SW 19
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