Bahrain riot police fire tear gas, stun grenades on protesters

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international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press

Friday August 03, 2012 12:54

by pat c

Where are the United Nations? Where are the EU sanctions? Why is repression ok in Bahrain? Full text at link.

Bahraini riot police have fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of demonstrators attempting to block a highway. Frequent antigovernment protests have wracked the country since February 2011. Protesters and police clashed in several Shiite villages late Thursday and early Friday, witnesses told AFP. The recent protests are a move by Bahrain’s opposition to spark further street demonstrations in the country.

The ongoing uprising by the country’s Shiite majority, which claims systematic discrimination on the part of Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy, has weakened after multiple mass arrests. At least 50 people have been killed and many more detained since protests began 18 months ago.

Bahraini policemen arrest protestors during an anti-government demonstration in the village of Bani Jamrah, West of Manama, on August 2, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mohammed Al-Shaikh)

Advocacy group Physicians for Human Rights released a new report this month titled ‘Weaponizing Tear Gas,’ which accused Bahraini authorities of badly injuring and even killing protesters with tear gas by flooding enclosed spaces like cars and houses with the toxic chemicals.The report stated that government officials misused tear gas against Shiite Muslim civilians, and that the attacks caused severe suffering amounting to torture. The report concluded that Bahraini authorities had “routinely violated every UN principle governing police use of force.”

The EU and US have made few statements and taken no direct action against the Bahraini government's crackdown on the uprisings.

Bahraini women run from tear gas fired by police during an anti-government demonstration in the village of Bani Jamrah, West of Manama, on August 2, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mohammed Al-Shaikh)

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Comments (5 of 5)

here's what we'll do......

by feudal castrato

Fri Aug 03, 2012 13:51

I say we arm the rebels, send in some snipers to shoot people randomly from the rooftops, send in a bunch of crazy salafist al qaeda jihadis bristling with automatic weapons and rpg's, push for sanctions in the UN, start a huge disinformation campaign about atrocities committed by the regime on al jazeera, CNN, RTE, BBC, fox news, push for no fly zone, start a fake peace process imposing daft conditions only on the regime but ignoring the rebels.

Then sit back and watch the country descend into bloody chaos.

Afterwards, we can manoeuvre in our own guy we have groomed for the job then do some nice oil and rebuilding of infrastructure deals and get paid for the cost of the war by the nutty jihadis who take over the country and impose strict sharia and we can just turn a blind eye while the people in power massacre and ethnically cleanse the minority faiths that remain.

How does that sound?

The penny drops

Fri Aug 03, 2012 19:32

Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which patrols the Persian Gulf and is a strategic check against Iran.

I guess that explains the reluctance of the US et al to rail against the Bahraini regime.

Bahrain activist Zainab al-Khawaja given jail sentence

Wed Sep 26, 2012 14:31

Repression continues in Bahrain.

A court in Bahrain has sentenced the prominent pro-democracy activist, Zainab al-Khawaja, to two months in prison. A judicial source said she had been found guilty of destroying government property, which her lawyer said related to her ripping up a picture of the king. The court also reportedly adjourned until October two cases - taking part in an illegal demonstration and entering a prohibited area.

Ms Khawaja has been detained several times in the past nine months.

Bahraini court confirms jail terms for medics who aided protesters

Mon Oct 01, 2012 15:16

Its a crime to tend to the wounded...

Bahrain's top court confirmed the jail sentences of nine doctors for their role in last year’s pro-democracy protests, state news agency BNA reported. The medics will be imprisoned for up to five years.

On Monday, Attorney General Abdul-Rahman al-Sayed said the country’s Court of Cassation rejected all of the defendants’ appeals and upheld the verdicts, BNA said.

The nine medics were among the twenty individuals tried by a Bahraini military tribunal in September 2011. The tribunal charged the doctors with felonies for their role in the February protests, which included treating antigovernment activists wounded by security forces and reporting those injuries to foreign media. Some of the medics also participated in the protests....

More unrest in Bahrain today...

by T

Fri Oct 05, 2012 23:41

Unrest has hit the streets of Bahrain today following the funeral procession earlier in the week (of a young boy who died in earlier street battles with police), protesters are once again gathering and marching to the Pearl Roundabout.

Pictures above are posted from twitter accounts
http://twitter.com/ALWEFAQ
http://twitter.com/Peacelooving
http://twitter.com/AhmedAli
http://twitter.com/MazenMahdi
http://twitter.com/SanabisYouth