By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
MANAMA, Bahrain – On Thursday, 15 December, Bahraini security forces targeted hundreds of protesters with tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protest attempting to block the main road leading to Manama, the nation’s capital. During the past ten months, the nation’s Shia Muslim majority regularly held protests that called for more rights from the Sunni-dominated monarchy.
Bahrain’s King Hamad pledged to initiate reforms by, for example, hiring police chiefs from the US and Britain to lead security agency reform. Although Michael Posner from the United States State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor praised King Hamad for beginning to implement reforms on his recent visit to Bahrain, Posner urged King Hamad to do more to address the human rights abuses. The US’s concerns of Bahrain using excessive force, such as tear gas, to respond to the continued street protests remain.
During this protest, Bahraini police detained prominent blogger and human rights activist Ms. Zainab al-Khawaja. She tweeted: “Sitting in a roundabout on Budaiya street, shouting down down Hamad. Until now riot police don’t seem to know what to do. A few girls have joined me now.” The police arrested her and another female protester for refusing to leave the sit-in at the roundabout after other protesters dispersed. The police detained seven other people during the protest.
A police car also ran over Ali al-Kassab, a seventeen-year-old protester, and killed him. The security forces injured twelve protesters during the peaceful demonstrations throughout Bahrain’s towns and villages.
Bahrainis have protested against the Al Kahalifa dynasty since February 2011. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent their troops to aid Bahrain in quelling the peaceful protests on March 14. On November 23, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry stated the government used excessive force to quash the protests, urged the government to change verdicts protesters received in military courts, and supply compensation for victims. Overall, dozens of people have died throughout these protests.
On Thursday, riot police chased protesters away from the highway they sought to block while helicopters hovered over the crowd. Along the highway, protesters waved red and white Bahraini flags. After the government destroyed a pearl sculpture and evicted the protesters from Manama’s Pearl Square in March, the protesters continually attempt to retake the heavily guarded square that has vast symbolic value.
A Budaiya resident reported, “Protesters are in batches of 40-50 each. There are still many police officers and vehicles here trying to keep demonstrators away from the highway. But protesters keep coming back.”
For further information, please see:
BBC – Bahrain Blogger Zainab al-Khawaja ‘Detained in Protest’ – 15 Dec 2011
IOL News – Bahrain Protesters Confront Police – 15 Dec 2011
Press TV – Bahrain Police Run Over, Kill Protester – 15 Dec 2011
The Washington Post – Bahraini Police Use Tear Gas, Stun Grenades To Disperse Protesters on Highway Outside Capital – 15 Dec 2011
