International Supporters Of Bahrain Revolution
FB pages:
(Mostly in Arabic, but also in English …)
Nyheder fra den bahrainske revolution
Bahrain Freedom Revolution Magazine
Virtual protest to support democracy in Bahrain
I Support The Revolution In Bahrain 2011
I Support Protests (Revolution) in Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia
Bahrain’s Students are searching for their stolen dreams
Modamer News Network – Bahrain Revolution
Pearl Revolution Political Center
Bahrain Feb 14 Revolution Star (Anonymous People With A Heart)
Sunni and Shia are Brothers United
Indignation : arrest al-Khalifa family for crimes against humanity
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Earlier texts in Norwegian:
Den største protesten i Bahrain på flere måneder
Demonstrantene er ennå herrer over Perleplassen i Bahrain
Demonstrasjoner pågår i Bahrain
Bahrain – På veien til revolusjon
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain is a small island country situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is an archipelago with Bahrain Island the largest land mass at 55 km (34 mi) long by 18 km (11 mi) wide.
Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway while Iran lies 200 km (124 mi) to the north across the Persian Gulf. The peninsula of Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The population in 2010 stood at 1,234,571, including 666,172 non-nationals.
Bahrain has the first “post-oil” economy in the Persian Gulf because the Bahraini economy does not rely on oil. Since the late 20th century, Bahrain has heavily invested in the banking and tourism sectors. The country’s capital, Manama is home to many large financial structures.
Bahrain is relatively poor when compared to its oil-rich Persian Gulf neighbours; its oil has “virtually dried up” and it depends on international banking and the tourism sector. However, Bahrain has a high Human Development Index (ranked 48th in the world) and was recognised by the World Bank as a high income economy.
Bahrain’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the region. Extreme poverty does not exist in Bahrain where the average daily income is US$12.8, however 11 percent of citizens suffered from relative poverty.
The kingdom has a small but well equipped military called the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), numbering around 13,000 personnel. The supreme commander of the Bahraini military is King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the deputy supreme commander is the Crown Prince, Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
The BDF is primarily equipped with United States equipment, such as the F16 Fighting Falcon, F5 Freedom Fighter, UH60 Blackhawk, M60A3 tanks, and the ex-USS Jack Williams, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate renamed the RBNS Sabha.
The Government of Bahrain has close relations with the United States, having signed a cooperative agreement with the United States Military and has provided the United States a base in Juffair since the early 1990s, although a US naval presence existed since 1948.
This is the home of the headquarters for Commander, United States Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT) / United States Fifth Fleet (COMFIFTHFLT), and around 6,000 United States military personnel.
Bahrain hosts the United States Naval Support Activity Bahrain, the home of the US Fifth Fleet; the US Department of Defense considers the location critical to its attempts to counter Iranian military power in the region. Bahrain was designated a major non-NATO ally by the George W. Bush administration in 2001.
The Saudi Arabian government and other Gulf region governments strongly support the King of Bahrain. Although government officials and media often accuse the opposition of being influenced by Iran, a government-appointed commission found no evidence supporting the claim.
History of Bahrain
In Arabic, Bahrayn is the dual form of bahr (“sea”), so al-Bahrayn means “the Two Seas” although which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute.
Until the late Middle Ages, “Bahrain” referred to the larger historical region of Bahrain that included Al-Ahsa, Al-Qatif (both now within the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia) and the Awal Islands (now the Bahrain Islands).
The region stretched from Basra in Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayn’s “Bahrayn Province”. The exact date at which the term “Bahrain” began to refer solely to the Awal archipelago is unknown.
Inhabited since ancient times, Bahrain occupies a strategic location in the Persian Gulf. It is the best natural port between the mouth of the Tigris, Euphrates Rivers and Oman, a source of copper in ancient times.
Bahrain is believed to be the site of the ancient land of the Dilmun civilization, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Dilmun was mentioned by Mesopotamian civilizations as a trade partner, a source of the metal copper, and an entrepôt of the Mesopotamia-to-Indus Valley Civilization trade route.
The Sumerians regarded Dilmun as holy land. Although the central location of Dilmun is unclear, the scholarly consensus is that Dilmun encompassed Bahrain, Kuwait and the coastal regions of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
Dilmun was firmly established as a trading center of great importance from 4000 BC to 1800 BC. At the height of Dilmun’s power, Dilmun controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes. Dilmun was very prosperous during the first 300 years of the second millennium. Dilmun’s commercial power began to decline between 2000 BC and 1800 BC because piracy flourished in the Persian Gulf.
It was later ruled by the Assyrians and Babylonians and later came under the rule of successive Parthian and Sassanid Persian empires. From the 6th to 3rd century BC, Bahrain was added to the Persian Empire by the Achaemenian dynasty.
By about 250 BC, the Parthians brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman. During the classical era, the island’s Hellenic name was Tylos, named when Nearchus discovered it while serving under Alexander the Great during Alexander’s Asia campaign.
In order to control trade routes, the Parthians established garrisons along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. In the 3rd century AD, Ardashir I, the first ruler of the Sassanid dynasty, marched on Oman and Bahrain, where he defeated Sanatruq the ruler of Bahrain. At this time, Bahrain comprised the southern Sassanid province along with the Persian Gulf’s southern shore.
The Sassanid Empire divided their southern province into the three districts of Haggar (now al-Hafuf province in Saudi Arabia), Batan Ardashir (now al-Qatif province in Saudi Arabia) and Mishmahig (which in Middle-Persian/Pahlavi means “ewe-fish”) which is present-day Bahrain.
and then Arabs, under whom the island first became Nestorian Christian and then Islamic. Early Islamic sources describe the country as inhabited by members of the Abdul Qais, Tamim, and Bakr tribes who worshipped the idol Awal, from which the Arabs named the island of Bahrain Awal for many centuries. However, Bahrain was also a center of Nestorian Christianity, including two of its bishoprics.
The country was one of the earliest areas to convert to Islam in 628 AD. Traditional Islamic accounts state that Al-ʿAlāʾ Al-Haḍrami was sent as an envoy to the Bahrain region by the prophet Muhammad in 628 AD and that Munzir ibn-Sawa al-Tamimi, the local ruler, responded to his mission and converted the entire area.
Following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain was occupied by the Portuguese in 1521, who in turn were expelled in 1602 by Shah Abbas I of the Safavid empire. In 1783, the Bani Utbah tribe captured Bahrain from the Qajars and has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family, with Ahmed al Fateh the first hakim of Bahrain.
After the 1783 Bani Utbah invasion of Bahrain the country has be ruled by the House of Khalifa since 1783. Following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. In 1926, Charles Belgrave a British national operating as an “adviser” to the ruler became the de facto ruler and oversaw the transition to a modern state.
The National Union Committee (NUC) formed in 1954 was the earliest serious challenge to the status quo. Two year after its formation, NUC leaders were imprisoned and deported by authorities.
In 1965, a one month uprising erupted by oil workers was crushed. The following year a new British “adviser” was appointed. Ian Henderson was then known for allegedly ordering torture and assassinations in Kenya. He was tasked with heading and developing the General Directorate for State Security Investigations.
Following the withdrawal of the British from the region in the late 1960s, Bahrain declared independence on 15 August 1971 and signed a new treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom. Bahrain joined the United Nations and the Arab League later in the year.
In 1973 the country held its first parliamentary election. However only two years after the end of British rule, the constitution was suspended and the assembly dissolved by the Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa the then Emir.
Independent Bahraini
On 15 August 1971, Bahrain declared independence and signed a new treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom. Bahrain joined the United Nations and the Arab League later in the year.
The state of human rights deteriorated in the period between 1975 and 2001, which was increased by repression. An alleged failed coup d’état was attempted in 1981. In 1992, 280 society leaders demanded the return of the parliament and constitution, which the government rejected.
Two years later a popular uprising erupted. Throughout the uprising large demonstrations and acts of violence occurred. Over forty people were killed including several detainees while in police custody and at least three policemen.
The period between 1975 and 1999 known as the “State Security Law Era”, saw wide range of human rights violations including arbitrary arrests, detention without trial, torture and forced exile.
After the Emir Hamad Al Khalifa (now king) succeeded his father Isa Al Khalifa in 1999, he introduced wide reforms and human rights improved significantly. These moves were described by Amnesty International as representing a “historic period of human rights”.
He successfully ended the uprising in 2001 after introducing wide ranging reforms, which 98.4 percent of Bahrainis voted in favour of in a nationwide referendum. The following year, opposition associations “felt betrayed” after the government issued a unilateral new constitution.
Despite earlier promises, the appointed Consultative Council, the upper house, of the National Assembly of Bahrain was given more powers than the elected Council of Representatives, the lower house. The Emir became a king with wide executive authority.
Four opposition parties boycotted the 2002 parliamentary election, however in the 2006 election one of them, Al Wefaq won a majority. The participation in elections increased the split between opposition associations.
The Haq Movement was founded and utilized street protests to seek change instead of bringing change within the parliament. The period between 2007 and 2010 saw sporadic protests which were followed by large arrests. Since then, tensions have increased “dangerously”.
The state of human rights in Bahrain was criticized in the period between 1975 and 2001. The government had committed wide range violations including systematic torture. Following reforms in 2001, human rights improved significantly and were praised by Amnesty International.
A popular uprising occurred between 1994 and 2000 in which leftists, liberals and Islamists joined forces. The event resulted in approximately forty deaths and ended after Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999. A referendum on 14–15 February 2001 massively supported the National Action Charter.
He instituted elections for parliament, gave women the right to vote, and released all political prisoners. As part of the adoption of the National Action Charter on 14 February 2002, Bahrain changed its formal name from the State (dawla) of Bahrain to the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Human rights conditions allegedly started to decline by 2007 when torture began to be employed again. By 2010, torture had become common and Bahrain’s human rights record was described as “dismal” by Human Rights Watch.
The Shia majority have long complained of what they call systemic discrimination. They accuse the government of naturalizing Sunnis from neighbouring countries and gerrymandering electoral districts.
Protests 2011
Inspired by the successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Bahrain’s Shia majority started large protests against its Sunni rulers in early 2011. The Bahraini uprising is also known as 14 February uprising and Pearl uprising. Although the majority of sources refer to it as an uprising, some have named it a Revolution. Protesters in Manama camped for days at the Pearl Roundabout, which became the centre of the protests.
The roots of the uprising date back to the beginning of the 20th century. The Bahraini people have protested sporadically throughout the last decades demanding social, economic and political rights. Demonstrations were present as early as the 1920s and the first municipal election was held in 1926.
Opposition activists starting from January 2011 filled the social media websites Facebook and Twitter as well as online forums, e-mails and text messages with calls to stage major pro-democracy protests.
Bahraini youths described their plans as an appeal for Bahrainis “to take to the streets on Monday 14 February in a peaceful and orderly manner in order to rewrite the constitution and to establish a body with a full popular mandate”.
The day had a symbolic value as it was the tenth anniversary of a referendum in favor of the National Action Charter and the ninth anniversary of the Constitution of 2002. The government initially allowed protests following a pre-dawn raid on protesters camped in Pearl Roundabout.
Unregistered opposition parties such as the Haq Movement and Bahrain Freedom Movement supported the plans, while the National Democratic Action Society only announced its support for “the principle of the right of the youth to demonstrate peacefully” one day before the protests.
Other opposition groups including Al Wefaq, Bahrain’s main opposition party, did not explicitly call for or support protests; however its leader Ali Salman demanded political reforms.
A few weeks before the protests, the government made a number of concessions such as offering to free some of the children arrested in the August crackdown and increased social spending. On 4 February, several hundred Bahrainis gathered in front of the Egyptian embassy in Manama to express solidarity with anti-government protesters there.
On 11 February, at the Khutbah preceding Friday prayer, Shiekh Isa Qassim said “the winds of change in the Arab world [are] unstoppable”. He demanded to end torture and discrimination, release political activists and rewrite the constitution.
Appearing on the state media, King Hamad announced that each family will be given 1,000 Bahraini dinars ($2,650) to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the National Action Charter referendum. Agence France-Presse linked payments to the 14 February demonstration plans.
The next day, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights sent an open letter to the king urging him to avoid “worst-case scenario”. On 13 February, authorities increased the presence of security forces in key locations such as shopping malls and set up a number of checkpoints. Al Jazeera interpreted the move as a clear warning against holding the rally.
Protests began on 14 February 2011, but met immediate reaction from security forces. At night, police attacked a small group of youth who organized a protest in Karzakan after a wedding ceremony. Small protests and clashes occurred in other locations as well, such as Sabah Al Salem, Sitra, Bani Jamra and Tashan leading to minor injuries to both sides.
Over thirty protesters were reportedly injured and one was killed as Bahraini government forces used tear gas, rubber bullets and Birdshot to break up demonstrations, but protests continued into the evening, drawing several hundred participants.
Most of the protesters were Shia Muslims, who make up the majority of Bahrain’s population. The next day, one person attending the funeral of the protester killed on 14 February was shot dead and 25 more were hurt when security officers opened fire on mourners.
The same day, thousands of protesters marched to the Pearl Roundabout in Manama and occupied it, setting up protest tents and camping out overnight. Sunni activist Mohamed Albuflasa was secretly arrested by security forces after addressing the crowd, making him the first political prisoner of the uprising.
Protests, sometimes staged by opposition parties, are ongoing. More than 80 civilians and 13 policemen were killed as of March 2014. The lack of coverage by Arab media in the Persian Gulf as compared to other Arab Spring uprisings, has sparked several controversies.
The Bahraini protests were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and equality for the majority Shia population, and expanded to a call to end the monarchy of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa following a deadly night raid on 17 February 2011 against protesters at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, known locally as the Bloody Thursday.
Respons
After a month, the government requested troops and police from from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and declared a three-month state of emergency.
On 14 March 1000 troops from Saudi Arabia and 500 troops from UAE arrived in Bahrain to quell the protests. A day later, the king of Bahrain declared martial law and a three-month state of emergency. Pearl Roundabout was cleared of protesters and the iconic statue at its centre was destroyed.
The government then launched a crackdown on opposition that included conducting thousands of arrests. Almost daily clashes between protesters and security forces led to dozens of deaths. In 2011, Bahrain was criticised for its crackdown on the Arab spring uprising.
After the state of emergency ended on 1 June, the opposition party, Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, organized several weekly protests usually attended by tens of thousands. On 9 March 2012 over 100,000 attended and another on 31 August attracted tens of thousands. Daily smaller-scale protests and clashes continued, mostly outside Manama’s business districts. By April 2012, more than 80 had died.
The police response was described as a “brutal” crackdown on peaceful and unarmed protesters, including doctors and bloggers. The police carried out midnight house raids in Shia neighbourhoods, beatings at checkpoints and denial of medical care in a campaign of intimidation. More than 2,929 people have been arrested, and at least five died due to torture in police custody.
Criticism
In June, King Hamad established the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry composed of international independent figures to assess the incidents. The report was released on 23 November and confirmed the Bahraini government’s use of systematic torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuse on detainees, as well as other human rights violations.
It also rejected the government’s claims that the protests were instigated by Iran. The report was criticised for not disclosing the names of individual abusers and extending accountability only to those who actively carried out human rights violations.
In September, a government appointed commission confirmed reports of grave human rights violations including systematic torture. Human Rights Watch described the country’s human rights situation as “dismal”. Due to this, Bahrain lost some of the high International rankings it had gained before.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights have documented alleged atrocities in Bahrain and strongly condemned authorities’ response to the uprising. The treatment of medical professionals accused of administering to opposition activists has been a particular source of distress to critics of the government, including both human rights advocates and journalists working in the region.
The Bahraini government’s decision to establish an independent inquiry to investigate the unrest won praise from many western governments, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as human rights organisations such as Amnesty International.
The government promised to introduce reforms and avoid repeating the “painful events”. However, many of the recommendations made in the report were not implemented, including allowing human rights organizations into the country to observe and report on the situation and reports by human rights organisations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued in April 2012 said the same violations were still happening.
In January, Brian Dooley of Human Rights First and Courtney C. Radsch and two other activists from Freedom House were denied entry to the country.
International relations
In the same year the government of the United Kingdom approved the sale of military equipment valued at more than £1m to Bahrain, following the violent crackdown on demonstrators.
This included licenses for gun silencers, weapons sights, rifles, artillery and components for military training aircraft; at least some of the equipment used by Bahraini authorities to suppress demonstrations was imported from Britain. The UK subsequently revoked many of its export licenses to Bahrain, amidst public pressure.
The 2012 status of these licenses has not been substantially documented. The United Kingdom has close ties with the Bahraini government; indeed, in late 2012, the United Kingdom signed a defense cooperation agreement with the Bahraini government.
Bahrain’s government spent millions of pounds on public relations, particularly with PR companies in Britain and the US, with which the regime has close diplomatic, military and commercial links, in an effort to try and improve its bloodied image.
Coverage of the uprising within Bahrain has been controversial and confusing, with numerous incidents where media outlets reported conflicting reports of deaths and violence both by government forces and anti-government protesters. Both national and international journalists have had difficulty gaining access to protests and allegations of bias have caused scandals in two leading Arabic new sources, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.
The uprising has had consequences for Bahrain from the international community as well as foreign investors, including Formula One, which canceled the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix due to instability and the outcry over the actions of the Bahraini government.
Western governments and organisations have generally expressed more magnanimity toward the Bahraini government, seen as a key ally of the European Union and the United States and a bulwark against nearby Iran, than they have toward other governments accused of violating the human rights of protesters during the Arab Spring.
The United States and the United Kingdom have condemned the use of violence by Bahraini authorities. They did not call for regime change or threaten sanctions.
Iran has expressed strong support for demonstrators, the majority of whom follow Shia Islam, the Iranian state religion. Relations between Tehran and Manama have cooled considerably during the uprising, with both countries expelling one another’s ambassadors.
Iran was joined by Iraq in opposing the Gulf Cooperation Council’s military intervention in Bahrain. Allies of the Bahraini government, such as Saudi Arabia and other GCC member states, have conversely blamed Iran for inciting upheaval in the small archipelago country and questioned the legitimacy of the protesters’ demands, echoing Manama’s claims.
Thousands of Shia protesters arose in Iraq and Qatif, Saudi Arabia, in opposition to the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain. The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Saudi government have defended the action as necessary to restore stability and security in the country.
2013/2014
Inspired by the Egyptian Tamarod Movement that played a role in the removal of President Mohamed Morsi, Bahraini opposition activists called for mass protests starting on 14 August, the forty second anniversary of Bahrain Independence Day under the banner Bahrain Tamarod. The day also marked the two and half anniversary of the Bahraini uprising.
In response, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) warned against joining what it called “illegal demonstrations and activities that endanger security” and stepped up security measures.
According to report on 1 August 2013 by the official Bahrain News Agency, King Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has issued new decrees, giving authorities more powers to strip citizenship and block suspected funding channels in attempts to quell escalating anti-government violence in the Gulf nation.
The measures are seen as a part of wider planned crackdowns, which also may include a ban on all protests in the capital, Manama.The Shiite groups have denounced the steps.
According to a report by a Bahraini human rights body, the country saw 745 protests in just December alone. The government’s reaction to dissent included arrests of 31 children, home raids and enforced disappearances. Out of the 745 “sporadic protests”, more than a half were suppressed by security forces, according to a report by the Liberties and Human Rights Department in Al Wefaq National Islamic Society.
A bomb blast during protests by Shiites in the village of Daih near Manama on 3 March 2014 killed 3 police officers and injured another. One of the police officers killed was from the UAE force of 500 police deployed along with 1,500 Saudi troops in 2011 to help quell the uprising. 25 suspects were arrested in connection to the bombing while the Bahrain cabinet met and decided to designate various protest groups as terrorist organizations. The designation was extended to associates of the groups.
Bahraini uprising (2011–present)
International reactions to the Bahraini uprising (2011–present)
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