A year ago today, mass protests took place at the now demolished Pearl Roundabout in the Bahrain capital, Manama. This year protesters have been attempting to return to the square where, for a month last year, thousands gathered to call for change. Protesters documented their failed attempts to reach the roundabout on 12 February, when a march to the symbolic square was quickly crushed by security forces. Clashes have escalated in the lead up to the anniversary of Bahrain’s mass protests, which has now claimed at least 60 lives.
During the attempt to return to the roundabout on Sunday, activist and prolific Twitter user, Zainab Al-Khawaja was arrested by security forces, having previously been arrested and released on bail in December. According to her sister Maryam Al-Khawaja, head of foreign relations for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Zainab was detained on charges of “illegal gathering” and “disturbing the peace”. She will be in prison for the 14 February protests, like her father, who is currently serving a life sentence for his participation in protests last year.
Still, protesters are determined to return to the heavily monitored square. Last night, hundreds were dispersed through the use of tear gas by officials.
Prominent human rights activist and director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab, said that he was taking his family to the roundabout to remind the government that they have “legitimate demands”, to “give people strength” and to show the commitment of leaders:
Twelve of thirteen defendants were acquitted today by a Bahraini court, including Wafi Al-Majed, the husband of human rights activist Zainab Al-Khawaja, who was sentenced to four years in prison. Al-Khawaja, who tweets under the username @angryarabiya, expressed joy on the social networking site today:
After all that, my husband Wafi, was found innocent today. Ofcourse he’s innocent! Like all the other political prisoners #bahrain
Zainab, who is the daughter of well-known human rights activist Abdulhady Al-Khawaja, still waits for the release of her father, who has been in prison since 9 April:
I am SO happy!! :D …and yet my happiness will never be complete, until my dad, my uncle & every political prisoner is released #bahrain
While twelve of the defendants, who all faced charges of illegal assembly, rioting and incitement, were able to walk free, one now faces time in prison. Naser al-Raas did not appear in court today, and for this reason the court upheld his five-year sentence.
Canadian citizen al-Raas was first detained on 20 March, while attempting to leave Bahrain. Prior to his arrest, al-Raas attended protests peacefully, took pictures and tweeted his views. Charged with “inciting to hatred” and “spreading false news,” al-Raas told Index that he was “surprised” by the court’s decision to uphold the sentence, because Public Prosecutor Fadhil Al-Buainain recently said that all charges related to free expression will be dropped. al-Raas believes that his unchanged charges confirms that government officials are “lying.”
The 29-year-old IT specialist refused to go to court out of fear of returning to jail. “I didn’t want to take that risk, after what I experienced last time, I don’t want to go through that again,” said al-Raas. During his 31 days in prison, al-Raas was tortured and deprived of medication for his heart condition. al-Raas said that he and his lawyer are unsure of their next steps, on account of the unclear legal process, but they “reject the verdict.”
Canadian authorities have asked the Bahraini government to commute al-Raas’s sentence, but he believes that they should be calling for the charges against him to be dropped. He said it was “unacceptable” that he might face five years in prison for expressing his beliefs.
The fifteenth of December marked the start of #OccupyBudaiya. Bahrainis have taken to Budaiya Street in Manama, the capital city, to express discontent with the government’s actions following the reading of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report. For four days, protesters clashed with riot police and security officials. Bahraini activist Asma Darwish, 21, who has been actively protesting since the start of protests in February, told Index that the demonstrations have all been “peaceful.” According to Darwish, when she was at Budaiya Street on 15 December, police began firing tear gas at herself and a few other individuals, including the now detained activist Zainab Al-Khawaja (@angryarabiya) , and journalists Lauren Bohn and Adam Ellick. She said that they were merely “taking photos” outside of a Costa coffee shop known as a meeting point for opposition members, when police opened fire on the café, filling it with tear gas and making it “very difficult to breathe”. On the same day, protester Ali Al-Ghassab was run over during protests, and the Ministry of Interior has denied responsibility for his death. On the same day, Al-Khawaja was also arrested while peacefully protesting.
In honour of Bahrain’s National Day on 16 December, King Hamad delivered a speech, in which he spoke about the BICI report, and emphasised the government’s “commitment to implementing its recommendations”. He also said that the BICI also “generated popular satisfaction.” On the same day, many gathered for the funeral of Al-Ghassab, and to protest on Budaiya Street again. According to an eyewitness account, the protests were “peaceful,” and did not even involve road blocks, which has been a major criticism of opposition tactics in the past. While protesters peacefully gathered, security forces began breaking up the crowds through the use of force — using batons to beat protesters, and firing “tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and bird shotgun pellets” on the crowd. The brutal crackdown on protesters since the start of the latest round of demonstrations has resulted in countless injuries, and many have posted images and videos of clouds of tear gas, injuries, and protests on Twitter. Bahrain is now approaching 10 months of unrest; protests began in February of this year.
Meanwhile, Al-Khawaja, who was scheduled to stand trial today, could face up to two years in prison, according to her lawyer. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is reporting that Al-Khawaja is currently being held in a cell with 40 other women and one shared bathroom, and has also been “verbally harassed” and threatened by officials, who have told her that she would only be able to see her two-year-old daughter once a week. Al-Khawaja is the daughter of prominent activist Abdulhady Al-Khawaja, who was arrested in April and is currently serving a life sentence. In an open letter to the international human rights community, Darwish appealed to organisations to assist in releasing her fellow activist, and condemned the physical assault of Al-Khawaja during her arrest, and said that her ill-treatment in public was “worrisome”. Her arrest, as well as the crackdown on protesters has been met with outrage from the international community, as continued brutality and the arrest of peaceful protesters does not seem to line up with the government’s promises of a renewed future, and many organisations have called for her release, as well as that of other peaceful protesters.
The Bahraini government has called for the fast-tracking of the recommendations of the commission, but hundreds remain in prison for exercising their right to express their political views. One of the commissioners, Sir Nigel Rodley, former UN special rapporteur on torture, told Human Rights Watch that those arrested for peacefully expressed their right to “freedom of expression and assembly,” and called for the government to review convictions, commute the sentences of those merely exercising their “basic political rights,” and that commissioners intended that they be released, and their criminal records be expunged of charges.
A few weeks ago, I traveled as a part of a delegation to Bahrain to investigate the state of free expression and attend the presentation of the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, which was commissioned to investigate what occurred in February and March. During my time in Bahrain, I met Zainab Al-Khawaja (@angryarabiya).
In my time with her, I grew to respect and admire her world view and strength. We had many conversations about Bahrain, her experiences as an activist, and I learned a great deal about her perspective. While perhaps at times uncertain about the future of Bahrain, Al-Khawaja was always clear on one thing: she believes in peaceful protests, and she was not alone in this.
As with her past interactions with security forces, Al-Khawaja used peaceful tactics today to express her views, just like she always has. To be arrested for demonstrating peacefully does not signal turning over a new leaf, as the Bahraini government says that it aims to do.
Many are quick to cite the examples of oil spills, molotov cocktails or road blocks as reasons to discredit protesters or members of the opposition. While I was in Bahrain, I attended a demonstration prior to security forces arriving, and it was peaceful. However, at a separate demonstration in Sitra, I did see molotov cocktails being thrown at security forces, much like New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof did this past week. While such tactics are worrisome, and human rights organisations in Bahrain have been quick to condemn their usage, I believe that unfortunately, they are merely a reaction to the situation at hand. Focusing on such tactics seems to only serve as a distraction from a much greater problem.
Many Bahraini officials, including King Hamad, have been vocal about about moving forward, reconciliation, and accepting the results of the report, which confirmed human rights abuses during February and March. Following the reading of the report, King Hamad said, “The government welcomes the findings of the Independent Commission, and acknowledges its criticisms,” an official Bahraini statement said. “We took the initiative in asking for this thorough and detailed inquiry to seek the truth and we accept it.”
Bahrain’s government has publicised steps to create change, including the hiring of two new overseas police officers (including former Miami police chief John Timoney, well-known for his ability to crush protests) and forming a committee to explore the implementation of the commission’s findings. Even so, such goals are more long-term, and do not address the current situation. If the government expects to move forward, and gain trust from those who do not believe that the commission was nothing more than a exercise to repair the international reputation of Bahrain, then it is important to allow protesters to demonstrate, and to change the crackdown on protesters on the ground.
