In Bahrain, a government crackdown on opposition and human rights activists has escalated with a new round of arrests. Over the weekend, 23 people were detained on charges of plotting the violent overthrow of the Bahraini government. The suspects include prominent members of the Shia opposition, as well as human rights activists. As many as 250 people have been arrested in the crackdown in less than a month. Speaking to democracy now, Bill Rajab of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said he's facing arrest after being publicly named a terrorist in the Bahrain media. It's getting very dangerous working in documentation in human rights. Daily basis you see my picture in the newspaper as a terrorist or supporting terrorism and all that. Attack me in the radio by program just made an hour and hour and a half to work accusing us of contacting international organizations giving false information to international organizations over to the government. If they arrest me, I'm not better than the others. I mean, I know this is also the cost of the work, the human rights work, the documentation, the reporting for international organizations getting government angry. And this is the cost of our work and we are willing to pay for it. Now, Bill Rajab talking to democracy now from Bahrain. He's one of Bahrain's most prominent human rights activists. He went on to discuss the U.S. role in backing the Bahraini government. Bahrain government is a friend of the Western countries and the European and the American. They are very influential in this part of the world. Unfortunately for the past many years with all these violations against human rights, European, Union and United States government did not play a positive role. They are always economic and the flow of the oil were priority and the right of you, the last thing they would talk about the right of people here.