Spanish motorsport president Carlos Gracia defends his Bahrain security report – Formula 1 news
International Automobile Federation (FIA) vice-president Carols Gracia has defended his reports on the security conditions in Bahrain by saying that at his time of visit of the Kingdom, the conditions were absolutely normal.
Gracia added that apart from peace in the country, the Bahrain government was also agreed on reconciling with the opposition parties which was a positive sign for the Formula 1 world to race in Bahrain.
Gracia was in-charge of the Bahrain security report and prepared a seven-page document in which he claimed that the conditions in Bahrain were normal.
Since then, many people have criticised Gracia and have said that the report was disastrously unbalanced.
Gracia has now responded to these comments by saying that, “I had official visits and interviews, but I also walked down the street and I was in shopping centres, always with a feeling of complete normality. There were people shopping or working. Nothing
that caught my attention.”
He further added, “What I found was an open government that offers the opposition the chance to speak. I can only speak about what I saw and that was complete quietness.”
However, Human Rights activists think differently of the Bahrain peace report of Gracia. An international organisation working in Bahrain, Avaaz released a statement criticising Gracia over his report.
An Avaaz correspondent said that even the Formula 1 world has now realised that conditions in Bahrain were not normal but still Gracia is stating that the Kingdom is peaceful. They further added that the report of Gracia does not cover any protester which
only means that the report is custom made.
The Formula One Teams Association is reported to have taken notice of the situation of Bahrain and have decided not to race there in the 2011 Formula 1 season.
The World Motor Sport Council decided to give Bahrain a green light for the 2011 Formula 1 season but since then more news of political unrest in the country have surfaced.
It will be interesting to see what the Formula 1 world does to protect its stake and Human Rights in Bahrain.
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