Bahrain: Shouting in the dark - Programmes. Bahrain: An island kingdom in the Arabian Gulf where the Shia Muslim majority are ruled by a family from the Sunni minority.
Where people fighting for democratic rights broke the barriers of fear, only to find themselves alone and crushed. This is their story and Al Jazeera is their witness - the only TV journalists who remained to follow their journey of hope to the carnage that followed. (Un)Historic Errors: Bahrain One Year On. Bahrain charges medical staff - Middle East. Bahraini police have clashed with Shia marchers at religious processions in villages across the country, the country's opposition al-Wefaq movement and residents say.
Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, sound grenades and birdshot to break up Sunday's marches, which were taking place in several Shia villages around Manama, the country's capital, the witnesses said. Residents said some gatherings were purely religious, while at others marchers shouted slogans against the ruling al-Khalifa family, including "The people want the fall of the regime", a chant that has become the symbol of similar protests in Tunisia and Egypt which dethroned long-time rulers. In Sitra, residents said several people were injured and that a house was set on fire.
"We condemn this attack, this kind of attack will make the situation even worse," said Sayyed Hady of al-Wefaq. A government official denied that widespread clashes had taken place. Medics charged. A criminal for witnessing: A US activist's deportation from the Kingdom of Bahrain. This photo was taken shortly before the author was arrested.
The riot police is shooting his tear gas gun point blank range at accredited journalists and non-violent protesters. (All Photos: K. Flo Razowsky) I have just arrived stateside after being arrested and deported from the Kingdom of Bahrain, for witnessing their repressive response to a people’s movement. Well, that is my take on it at least. The march at which I was arrested was headed for LuLu Square, or Pearl Roundabout as it is known, the birthplace of this most recent Bahraini revolutionary movement for democracy. Most village entrances and major thoroughfares were closed down using these APCs. Poet jailed in protests claims she was beaten by Bahraini royal - Middle East, World. In an interview with The Independent, Ms Gormezi, who became a symbol of resistance to oppression in Bahrain, said that although her interrogators had tried to blindfold her, "I was able to see a woman of about 40 in civilian clothes who was beating me on the head with a baton".
Ms Gormezi later described her interrogator to prison guards, who, she said, promptly named the woman as being one of the al-Khalifas with a senior position in the Bahraini security service. "I was taken many times to her office for fresh beatings," Ms Gormezi said. "She would say, 'You should be proud of the al-Khalifas. They are not going to leave this country. It is their country The guards explained that it wasnot her regular job, but she had volunteered to take part in questioning political detainees. Ms Gormezi was detained on 30 March at her parents' house after spending two weeks in hiding when the government, backed by a Saudi-led force, started a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in mid-March.
Bahrain activists jailed for life - Middle East. Police and protesters have clashed in Bahrain after eight Shia Muslim activists accused of plotting a coup to overthrow the Gulf Arab state's Sunni monarchy were sentenced to life in prison.
Bahraini activist serving life sentence writes letter from prison. By Sara Yasin / 13 February, 2012 Prominent Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has been serving a life sentence since April 2011 for his involvement in anti-government protests last year.
Al-Khawaja, who is also a Danish citizen, recently wrote a letter from prison to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to push for his release. Torture in Bahrain Becomes Routine With Help From Nokia Siemens. The interrogation of Abdul Ghani Al Khanjar followed a pattern.
First, Bahraini jailers armed with stiff rubber hoses beat the 39-year-old school administrator and human rights activist in a windowless room two stories below ground in the Persian Gulf kingdom’s National Security Apparatus building. Then, they dragged him upstairs for questioning by a uniformed officer armed with another kind of weapon: transcripts of his text messages and details from personal mobile phone conversations, he says. If he refused to sufficiently explain his communications, he was sent back for more beatings, says Al Khanjar, who was detained from August 2010 to February. “It was amazing,” he says of the messages they obtained. “How did they know about these?” Bahrain Center for Human Rights Report on Human Rights Violations Since the BICI Report.
Pakistani troops aid Bahrain's crackdown - Features. In March, as a government crackdown on pro-democracy protestors intensified in Bahrain, curious advertisements started appearing in Pakistani media.
"Urgent requirement - manpower for Bahrain National Guard," said one. "For service in Bahrain National Guard, the following categories of people with previous army and police experience are urgently needed," said another, with "previous experience" and "urgent need" underscored. The categories included: former army drill instructors, anti-riot instructors, retired military police, and former army cooks.
In the following two months, on the back of visits to Islamabad by senior Saudi and Bahraini officials, sources say at least 2,500 former servicemen were recruited by Bahrainis and brought to Manama, increasing the size of their national guard and riot police by as much as 50 per cent. Bahrain's Revolutionaries - By Toby C. Jones and Ala'a Shehabi. Bahrain's February 14th movement has become a symbol of resistance and fortitude...and the most powerful political force in Bahrain today.
This confederation of loosely organized networks, named after the date of the beginning of Bahrain's revolution, is faceless, secretive, and anonymous. Its tens of thousands of supporters have abandoned the failed leadership of the country's better established, but listless, political opposition. They have suffered the most and have weathered the worst that the regime has so far meted out. Most outside observers, particularly policymakers hopeful that a political resolution is still possible, have mistakenly ignored the February 14th movement or deemed it irrelevant.
The Bahraini government is not interested in reform or reconciliation. This crisis was avoidable. Bahrain's Revolutionaries Speak: An Exclusive Interview with Bahrain's Coalition of February 14th Youth. In spite of claims that Bahrain’s revolution has failed, the reality is that peaceful protests, a campaign of civil disobedience, and anti-Al Khalifa energy is at an all-time high.
The regime’s reliance on heavy-handed violence has failed to quell the country’s revolutionary spirit or stamp out the opposition. If anything, the yearlong brutal siege against its own citizens has strengthened the resolve of anti-regime critics and their determination to carry on. Among the most determined to keep the revolution alive is the Coalition of February 14th Youth, an anonymous and decentralized political network that has coordinated months of activism and protest.
While Bahrain’s older and more visible political societies, including al-Wefaq and Wa’ad, have sought and failed to negotiate with the government over the last year, the Coalition of February 14th Youth has steadily earned popular legitimacy for its commitment to revolutionary principles and action. Toby C. ٥) ما هي مطالب الائتلاف؟ Brace for the worst in Bahrain.
In the Kingdom of Tear Gas. The talk of Bahrain at present is talk -- the possible renewal of dialogue between the government and the opposition -- but the reality is that street protests, after simmering in outlying villages for months, have begun to heat up in the capital of Manama. Opposition activists staged a large rally in the first week of April in support of jailed human rights activist ‘Abd al-Hadi al-Khawaja, whose nine-week hunger strike has turned him into a symbol of resistance to the government in the eyes of many Bahrainis. Khawaja was arrested a year previous as part of the crackdown on the popular uprising that began on February 14, 2011 and became centered in Pearl Roundabout on Manama’s outskirts. He was moved to a military hospital on April 6 because of his rapidly deteriorating health. The February 14 Youth Coalition has also organized almost daily protests aimed at the Formula One auto race scheduled for April 22.