16th March 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

bullets and sound grenades while youths threw petrol bombs - a pattern that has repeated itself almost daily for months.

Clashes flare in Bahrain on Arab Spring anniversary 15/03/12

Shi'ite Muslims clashed with riot police in villages across Bahrain on Thursday, the anniversary of a government crackdown last year on a prodemocracy uprising in the Gulf Arab state. Witnesses said youths and police faced off in Shi'ite areas including Sitra, Diraz, Malkiya, Saar, Jidhafs, Tubli and Bilad al-Qadeem, all districts outside or on the edge of the capital Manama. Police, who are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, fired tear gas, rubber

But the clashes were more intense because of the anniversary of the breakup of protests across the country by force. There were unconfirmed reports of several injuries among protesters from direct hits by tear gas canisters. Read More Reprinted here:
Clashes are in Bahrain on Arab Spring anniversary Clashes are in Bahrain on Arab Spring anniversary | Deccan Chronicle Clashes Erupt On One-Year Anniversary Of Bahrain Uprising Clashes are in Bahrain on Arab Spring anniversary - AlertNet Clashes are in Bahrain on Arab Spring anniversary - WNEP

Bahrain opposition marks raid anniversary - 16/03/12

Thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Bahrain on Friday to mark the oneyear anniversary of the military raid on the capital's Pearl Square, the epicenter of last year's Shiite uprising in the Gulf kingdom. Thousands of protesters waved Bahraini ags, chanted anti-government slogans and demanded the release of political prisoners during the opposition rally in Mahooz, a western suburb of Manama.

Pearl Square in central Manama had served as the opposition's headquarters during the rst weeks of the Shiite majority's campaign to loosen the Sunni dynasty's grip on power in the strategic island that is the home of the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet. Security forces stormed the protesters' encampment at the landmark square, after authorities imposed martial law last March and tore down the pearl sculpture that marked the site of unprecedented political upheaval in the island nation. Read More Reprinted here:
Bahrain Opposition Marks Raid Anniversary - ABC News Bahrain opposition marks raid anniversary | ajc.com

Scenes from a Bahraini Courtroom 16/03/12

There they sit, squeezed onto two benches in Bahrains criminal court: the 20 medics who were tortured into making false confessions. They were arrested last year after treating protestors at the Salmaniya Medical Complex and telling the world the truth about what had happened. Their ordeal began a year ago when the government seized them from their workplaces and homes and subjected them to severe

beatings, sexual assault, electrocution, and other forms of torture for perceived association with the democracy protests which began in February 14, 2011. Then in military trials almost six months ago, 20 were sentenced to between five and 15 years in prison. This is their appeal session. There they sit, 20 respected medical professionals, accused of carrying weapons to organize the overthrow of the government and other trumped up charges. Read More Reprinted here:
Brian Dooley: Scenes From a Bahraini "Courtroom"

Bahrain Activists: Manama Ignoring Human Rights Reform - 15/03/12

More than eight months since the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) was established, the government has failed to implement most of the recommendations, activists say. Following mass prodemocracy protests between February and March 2011, the Bahraini government was

accused of leading a severe crackdown on peaceful demonstrators. The kingdom's leader, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, ordered that an Independent Commission of Inquiry be set up. The commission was tasked with determining "whether the events of February and March 2011 (and thereafter) involved violations of international human rights law and norms, and to make the recommendations that it deems appropriate," according to its website. Read More

U.S. Navy giving old boats to Bahrain government - 15/03/12

Tomorrow, the State Department will notify Congress that the U.S. Navy is handing over 19 patrol boats it's no longer using to the government of Bahrain, but the State Department says arms sales to that country are still on hold due to human rights concerns. Today, ofcials from the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and State's Legislative Affairs ofce briefed select

congressional ofces about their decision to transfer seven rigid-hull inatable boats and 12 32-foot Boston Whaler boats from the U.S. Navy in Bahrain to the Bahrain government. Ofces briefed ahead of the Friday formal notication included aides to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the ofces of Sen.Ron Wyden (D-WY) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), two lawmakers who have been leading the congressional opposition to continued U.S. arms sales to Bahrain. Read More

Systematic torture in Bahraini formal detention centers, and others informal + PIC 15/03/12
Bahrain Center for Human Rights: repression in Bahrain takes new forms and methods and is continuing without stopping through the use of excessive force, torture, sexual harassment and breaking parts of the demonstrators bodies. Bahrain Center for Human Rights started several months ago and continued until the writing of this report documenting the repression and intimidation adopted by Bahraini security forces and

which are of new forms and methods and unjustified in order to spread terror among the citizens who participate in marches and peaceful protests; where they recently proceeded to develop a new way of repression by insulting the victims during their arrest, and taking them to isolated places and torturing them [1]; with the aim of getting them injured as much as possible by breaking parts of their bodies. They also continued breaking into homes early mornings and extracting confessions from detainees under torture exactly as stated in the report of the Bahraini Independent Committee of Inquiry [2]. Read More