Three months after a report condemned Bahrain's use of "excessive force" in 2011, the Gulf kingdom yesterday deployed armoured vehicles and unprecedented numbers of troops in an effort to prevent a repeat of the lethal clashes.
Heavy military reinforcements were sent to the mainly Shia
villages outside the capital Manama to prevent people from
gathering in response to a call by the main opposition movement Al
Wefaq to mark yesterday's anniversary of the uprising against their
Sunni rulers.
At the same time, the government heralded a possible political
crackdown on Al Wefaq by saying it would open legal procedures
against the party, whom it blamed for the violence which erupted on
Monday and early yesterday morning after demonstrators sought to
occupy Manama's now heavily guarded Pearl Roundabout, the focal
point of weeks of protests last year.
Armoured personnel carriers also patrolled the capital itself in
the wake of pre-dawn skirmishes in which youths threw petrol bombs
at police cars. The police responded by firing tear gas at around
two dozen protesters near Pearl Square, sending canisters bouncing
off civilian vehicles. They detained around 30 people, with 6 US
citizens reported to be among arrested. Last night, Bahrain's
information affairs authority said the six US citizens had been
deported "for applying for tourist visas under false
pretenses".
In a televised speech on Monday, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
told Bahrainis that he remained committed to a reform process
launched ten years ago, adding that it "marked the launch of a
development and modernisation process, which is still moving
forward to meet the aspirations of our loyal people in all areas."
He also said he had pardoned 291 prisoners.
The opposition, however, dismisses the reform process as
cosmetic and points out that the released prisoners do not include
those detained during last year's revolt, which was eventually
suppressed with the help of Saudi forces.
Al Wefaq and other opposition parties, including the secular
Waad, which is led by a Sunni politician, want the elected
parliament to be able to form governments. Instead they have only
been afforded greater scrutiny.
Shias, who account for around 70 percent of Bahrain's population
of 525,000, remain angry about what they see as their treatment as
second class citizens, denied many state jobs and given less access
to good housing than the kingdom's Sunni minority.
Although the US suspended a $53m arms deal until it sees "more
progress" on political reform, Bahrain's authorities largely
escaped the kind of international censure levelled at other regimes
undermined by the Arab spring. Geographically close to Iran, the
island kingdom is home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
The authorities have hired US and British police chiefs -
including the former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner
John Yates - to assist in reform in the wake of last November's
Commission report, which heavily criticised the handling of the
2011 protests, including the use of torture against detainees.
Forty people died during the protests or in detention.
Reuters reported that on Monday, the eve of yesterday's
anniversary, hundreds of protesters broke away from an authorised
opposition rally to head for the Pearl Roundabout, before police
stopped them with tear gas and rubber bullet pellets. Despite calls
for restraint by Al Wafeq leader Sheikh Ali Salman, street battles
followed with youths throwing petrol bombs, rocks and iron
bars, and chanting slogans supporting Hassan Mushaimaa, the
imprisoned Shia leader who is more radical than Al Wefaq.
Meanwhile, the hackers group Anonymous yesterday managed to
bring down the website of Combined Systems Inc, the
Pennsylvania-based company which exports crowd control equipment,
including allegedly the tear gas used by the Bahraini authorities.
The group posted a message saying CSI sold "mad chemical weapons to
militaries and cop shops around the world."
Britain has sold weapons worth £1m to Kingdom
Britain sold more than £1m of military equipment to Bahrain last
summer while the armed crackdown on protesters was still
continuing. Figures released by the Government show that artillery,
naval guns and rifles were amongst the weapons approved for
export.
It adds to an awkward week for Britain's relationship with the
kingdom. On Monday the former Metropolitan Police Assistant
Commissioner John Yates, now serving as an adviser on police reform
in Bahrain, said the crowd-control tactic of "kettling" would "work
really well" there.
