Neena Gill (S&D). – Mr President, the Bahraini Government has been trying its best to paint a picture of the country in which there is respect for fundamental values and human rights, but no amount of PR effort can gloss over the human rights violations and the repression, which continue to increase.

This is the fourth consecutive year in which this House has adopted a resolution on Bahrain calling for the release of those who are detained simply because they exercise their freedom of expression, including Nabeel Rajab and Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and many, many others. It is time we put Bahrain on notice that failure to respect fundamental rights will be met with consequences.

As for those on the other side of the House who are trying to water down the resolution, I ask you to consider: history has shown that appeasement does not work with an authoritarian regime.

My questions to the Commissioner are: will the EU consider imposing targeted measures against those responsible for human rights violations, and when will the Member States, including the UK, halt transfers of weapons, surveillance and intelligence equipment that can be used by Bahrain in this unacceptable crackdown …

(The President cut off the speaker)