Peace Prize winner visited Bergen Student Center this week to tell students to fight oppression.
The winner of the Student Peace Prize of 2015, Ayat Al-Qurmezi has faced torture, imprisonment and harassment from Bahrain’s government. On Tuesday, 24 year old Ayat told UiB students about her poetry and struggle for human rights. She was joined in a lecture at Egget by Ingrid Rosland, from the Rafto Foundation and Mari Flaathen, leader of SAIH Bergen.
–They forced me to stand looking at the wall, and they don’t let me sleep.
After Aayat’s exposure through social media her reading garnered a lot of attention. She was then arrested by the police at her family home in 2011. During her imprisonment she was beaten with an electrical cord in the face, threatened with sexual abuse and kept in a tiny cell.
Before she was arrested, she had read her poetry to a crowd of 300,000 pro-democracy protesters. In her poem she criticised the King of Bahrain and his ministers by asking them “do they hear their screams”. Her conditions for release was that she kept her mouth shut about her imprisonment and torture.
– From the first moment I talked to the press and journalist.
The Student Peace Prize
She was awarded the Peace Prize, by the international student festival in Trondheim (ISFIT), for her “Strength to fight oppression and violence without resorting to the same means”. Also for “raising her voice again, despite being imprisoned, tortured, harassed threatened and expelled from her studies”. (Committee award statement)
The Student Peace Prize was was established in 1999 for students or student organizations that work to promote peace, human rights and democracy. ISFIT states they established the prize as “Despite their great engagement, students don’t get a lot of attention around their work for peace, and therefore the student peace prize is an important factor for their appreciation and respect.”
On winning the prize Aayat felt surprised and glad she had highlighted the struggle in Bahrain.
– It’s deteriorating, we see a situation where the government and the regime use more harsh methods in cracking down on the demonstrators.
According to Ingrid Rosland, RAFTO Foundation, who works with the women in Bahrain on the ground. Bahrain has had ongoing peaceful and violent protests since 2011 for elections and freedom of the press. They desire, according to Aayat, for the King not to appoint the Prime Minister.
On Valentine’s Day protests continued to celebrate the Anniversary of the 2011 fight. There was a lot of fighting from both anti and pro government sides. The protests have also been marred by sectarian violence. 70% of the population are Shia with a Sunni controlled government. But Aayat is hopeful;
– We want to live in a democratic country. We want justice and dignity for all the people. It’s not difficult to achieve, she says.
RAFTO
The Rafto Foundation, based in Bergen, is working to change the situation in Bahrain. Project Manager of the Women’s Network, Ingrid Rosland, said they are working to train women to work better as activists. Also connecting the different hierarchies in Bahrani society so that they work better together.
Aayat: “I think it’s a forgotten country”
Ingrid, RAFTO, urged for there to be more focus internationally and by students on Bahrain. She felt “ The great big powers like the USA and Britain, have too many connections in the region”.
Both have built naval bases in Bahrain and have oil interests there. Also Bahrain has aided the fight against ISIS.
– You can help through joining organisations like Amnesty International and the RAFTO foundation, Ingrid says.
