By Emily Schneider
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
MANAMA, Bahrain – Hundreds of protestors in Bahrain were forcibly dispersed by police who were using water canons and tear gas on Friday. The crowd gathered after hearing that Mohammed Ali Ahmed Mushaima, 23, had died in custody. He was jailed after pro-democracy protests last year.
Mushaima was one of thousands to partake in protests in Bahrain in March 2011, following the example of those in Tunisia and Egypt. The protestors in Bahrain were rallying for more power for their elected officials and a more limited role for the ruling al-Khalifa family. Many of the dissidents were from the Shia majority and would prefer the Sunni al-Khalifa family to have less power. Some Shi’ites complain of discrimination in almost all aspects of government functions, including housing, jobs, and education.
In an effort to curb protests in the spring of 2011, martial law was enacted for two months. Clashes between protestors and government authorities continued almost daily in spite of those measures. Mushaima was taken into police custody in March 2011 for “vandalism, rioting, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.” He was sentenced to seven years in jail and had been in the hospital since August. According to Bahrain’s Information Authority ‘s written statement, a medical examiner determined “[his] death [to have been] natural and caused by sickle cell complications.”
Opposition activists claim that Mushaima died because the authorities mistreated him. After the memorial service held for him on Tuesday, hundreds of protestors gathered to again rally for a bigger role for their elected officials. As they headed towards Pearl roundabout, the site of the large protests last spring, police intervened. According to witnesses, riot police were deployed to the area and used tear gas, water canons, sound bombs, and buckshot against the crowd.
The interior ministry, in a statement made on Twitter, said that a “group of terrorists” threw Molotov cocktails at police and blocked access to streets, and so the police used “legal measures” in response.
This was the second time police forces have violently clashed with protesters in recent days. Last Friday, a seventeen-year-old was killed after he allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at a police patrol. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said the incident is an example of “summary executions” by government forces.
For further information, please see:
Rueters – Police Clash with Protestors in Bahrain – 5 October 2012
Al Jazeera – Protestors Clash with Police in Bahrain – 5 October 2012
CNN- Police, Protestors Clash after Funeral – 2 October 2012
Gulf Daily News- Rights Panel Seat a Vote of Confidence – 29 September 2012
