DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – A decade after protesters rallied in the capital of Bahrain to overthrow their government in 2011, authorities continue to suppress all signs of disagreement. Activists behind the turbulent days say the memory of the protests that threatened the Sunni monarchy’s grip on power has been almost extinguished.
But many live with the consequences.
“This was the beginning of the dark era,” said Jawad Fairooz, a former exile of the now-banned Al-Wefaq Shiite political party, who was deprived of his nationality in 2012.
Although many activists and protesters have escaped or been captured, the threat of disagreement continues in this small kingdom with a majority Shiite population on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia.
Unlike neighboring Gulf Arab monarchies, low levels of unrest have plagued Bahrain over the past few years. Police were in the last week of power in street streets, residents say, and do not risk renewed demonstration not.
A website for the Independent Commission of Inquiry in Bahrain, commissioned by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, which presented an independent report on the protests in 2011 and the government’s repression that ended it, has mysteriously gone offline before it was restored Thursday. The government described it as a “technical error” without elaborating.
For weeks beginning on February 14, 2011, thousands of streets across Bahrain crowded, encouraged and fueled by pro-democracy protest marches in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. The protests in Bahrain were mainly organized by the Shiites of the country seeking greater political rights in the Persian Gulf state, which is a major Western ally and home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
“It was overwhelming,” recalls Nazeeha Saeed, then a French TV news reporter, describing the troubled days in Pearl Roundabout, the symbolic center of the capital, Manama, which was later pushed by authorities. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. People have forgotten that we are a Persian Gulf kingdom backed by powerful monarchies. ‘
Soon, Saeed said, everything went horribly wrong. Security forces tried to disperse the seat and responded to protests with tear gas, rubber bullets and in some cases live fire. The police have a demonstrator only 20 meter shot her in the head. She said she was detained and beaten because she told foreign journalists what she saw.
Now in exile in Berlin, Saeed said she could not return home. Bahrain fined her $ 2,650 in 2017 for working with a government-issued press card. At the same time, the government refused to accredit two Associated Press journalists and has since had strict visas to report on the island.
As violence increased over the weeks in February 2011, demonstrations intersected in a popular movement that crossed the sectarian divide. Calls for constitutional reform have turned into demands for the dismantling of the political structure of the country. The monarchy sought help from nearby Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and invited foreign troops to crush the protests.
After the repression, King Hamad ordered an internationally recognized commission of jurists and scholars under the late professor of law Cherif Bassiouni to investigate. The resulting 500-page report, based on more than 5,100 interviews with protesters and residents, describes prisons full of torture, numerous arbitrary arrests, and the withdrawal of forced confessions against those trapped in the drum. Prisoners are reportedly beaten and forced to kiss photos of the king and prime minister.
A decade later, activists in Bahrain and in exile say their country is far less free than it was in 2011. The government has drawn criticism of its rule as an Iranian conspiracy to undermine the country. Bahrain also blamed Iran for sparking the protests in 2011, although the report by Bassiouni and other experts found no evidence to that effect.
Tehran denies interfering in Bahrain, although weapons seized by the island are linked to Iran. Even Iran, under the former shah, has tried to claim Bahrain as part of its territory.
Prior to the commemoration of the 2011 events, Bahrain officials did not respond to repeated requests from The Associated Press for comment.
In the time since 2011, authorities have targeted not only Shiite political groups and religious leaders, but also human rights activists, journalists and online opponents. Mass trials have become commonplace. Political parties were dismantled. Independent news gathering on the island has become almost impossible. Meanwhile, there have been sporadic low-level attacks on police and other targets by Shiite militant groups.
Even a tweet could land someone in jail, despite Bahrain’s constitution guaranteeing its citizens freedom of speech. Nabeel Rajab, one of the main leaders of the 2011 protests, was only released into house custody last year due to the coronavirus pandemic after serving years of an internationally criticized prison sentence..
While the coronavirus pandemic plunged the country in March, the government announced that they had arrested more than 40 people for spreading rumors about the virus and disrupting public safety. “And this autumn, activists say, authorities have been searching the internet for differences of opinion following the death of longtime prime minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. One of the main demands of protesters in 2011 was that Prince Khalifa be resigned and tried for corruption and human rights violations.
One Bahraini man, a former journalist who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation, said he was jailed for two weeks after posting a Koran verse on social media saying security forces believed he was dead. of the Prime Minister. A prisoner in the same cell posted a politically charged poem, while another tweeted the words ‘good morning’.
“Since 2011, we have only been moving backwards,” the 47-year-old said. ‘The only meaning of’ opposition ‘in Bahrain is to try to document the arrests of your friends. “
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Follow Isabel DeBre on Twitter at www.twitter.com/isabeldebre.