US Citizens Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath were arrested by Bahraini security forces in the capital Manama on Saturday (11 February) during a peaceful protest.

Protesters had marched into the city center to reestablish a presence of nonviolent, peaceful protest leading up to the 1-year anniversary of the Arab Spring uprising in Bahrain on 14 February.

Huwaida and Radhika are in Bahrain as part the <a href=”www.witnessbahrain.org”>Witness Bahrain initiative</a>, which arrived in Bahrain in response to a call by Bahraini democracy activists for international observers.