A military court in Bahrain sentenced a group of medical staff to up to 15 years in prison Sept. 29 for treating anti-government protesters. The doctors and nurses were convicted on charges including incitement to overthrow the government, stealing medicine and occupying a hospital. Dr. Fatima Hadji told the BBC she was beaten in custody and threatened with rape before being released on bail. At least 30 people were killed and hundreds injured when the regime, supported by troops rushed in from neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in March. (Radio Australia, Sept. 30)
See our last posts on Bahrain and the Arab revolutions.
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Bahrain: convicted medics get retrial
Bahrain on Oct. 5 announced retrials will be given to 20 medical staff convicted last month of participating in the country’s pro-democracy protests against the ruling regime. (Jurist, Oct. 6)
More protests rock Bahrain
Security forces in Bahrain used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters attempting to protest alongside a highway leading to the island kingdom’s capital Dec. 15. The clashes erupted near the town of Diraz and other opposition stronghold villages west of the capital, Manama. Riot police were seen chasing protesters away from entrances to the key highway and back into the largely Shiite communities that line the road. (AP, Dec. 15)
More protests rock Bahrain
Bahrain’s security forces fired tear gas at anti-government protesters and beat them with iron bars leaving dozens injured, the opposition said Jan. 2. The violence erupted the previous night in the town of Sitra after the funeral of a 15-year-old boy, who the opposition says was killed when he was struck on the head by a tear gas canister fired by security forces the previous day. Another teenager was seriously wounded by a direct hit to the head by a tear gas canister, former opposition MP Matar Matar told AFP. (Daily Star, Lebanon, Jan. 2)
US rebukes Bahrain amid unrest
In a rare rebuke of its ally, the United States called on Bahrain Jan. 7 to investigate the case of a prominent human rights activist who the opposition says was beaten by security forces. Activists said several security officers threw Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, to the ground and beat him on the head, neck and back after a protest march the previous day. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has denied those accounts, saying on its Twitter feed that police found Rajab “lying on the ground” and took him to the hospital for treatment. The Sunni-led island kingdom, home to the US Fifth Fleet, last year sought to crush anti-government protests mounted by the country’s Shi’ite majority. Demonstrations have resumed in recent months, sometimes turning violent. (Reuters, Jan. 7)