MANAMA, Bahrain — The Jamri family business was revolution, its goal to undermine a regime that relied on prisons, blacklists and the threat of exile to rule this Persian Gulf nation. For their efforts, Mohammed Jamri was imprisoned; his younger brother, Monsour, was exiled; and their father, Sheik Abdul-Ameer Jamri, served time in prison and under house arrest.
Today the Jamri family members live relatively quiet lives as model citizens. But it was not the strong hand of oppression that silenced their revolutionary resolve. On the contrary, it was the government's decision to in effect apologize to its citizens for decades of human rights abuses.
As nations throughout the Arab world use draconian tactics to control extremism, this sliver of a country, smaller than New York City, has decided to pioneer a different approach. Bahrain's emir, Sheik Hamed ibn Isa Khalifa, who came to power in 1999, has defused tensions by taking steps to address the grievances of his people.
In moves that have largely silenced even the most vocal critics, the government released all political prisoners and welcomed home hundreds of exiles, abolished summary imprisonment, did away with state security courts and began to introduce principles of democracy into the management of the country.
A few years ago, Bahrain was caught in the grip of a violent uprising. Today it is preparing for municipal elections.
"To pardon all these people with no conditions, to allow all the exiles to come home with no conditions, it is very extraordinary," said Mohammed Jamri, who was hauled off to prison just after his third child was born and was held for 10 years. "You must be optimistic; you must have faith in the emir."
Bahrain's experiment is of interest not only to its citizens. Though it is a relatively poor relation among the oil-rich Persian Gulf countries, Bahrain is the site of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and so its stability is of strategic importance to the United States.
At the same time, the emirate is bringing modern ideas, such as allowing women to vote, to a region clinging to autocratic rule. That could make some of its neighbors, such as Saudi Arabia, nervous. At one time Saudi officials pressured Bahrain to suspend its parliament. But with several Saudis suspected of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, there is talk of the need for reform within the kingdom.
