SQA criticised for business deals with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia

1.10.15

SQA criticised for business deals with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia: [theferret.scot] Speaking to The Ferret, she condemned the Scottish Qualifications Authority for entering into contracts with both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain despite their widely criticised human rights records.

Al-Khawaja also criticised the UK government, describing it as “a PR agent for a dictatorship”, adding, “Britain is the largest obstacle to human rights being upheld in Bahrain.”

Her family was involved in a 2011 pro-democracy uprising in Bahrain that was violently suppressed by the government, a regime accused of torturing women and imprisoning children.

More than 100 people have since been killed and Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said that the Bahrain government regularly tortures opponents and that children as young as 13 have been illegally detained and assaulted.