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2011
Bahrain - Introduction
Background
Bahraini Uprising
Power in Bahrain mostly held by Sunni minority; protestors mostly consisted of Shia
majority
January 2011 social media filled with calls to stage major pro-democracy protests
"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 to
investigate and hold to account economic, political and social violations, including
stolen public wealth, political naturalisation, arrests, torture and other oppressive
security measures,[and]institutional and economic corruption
Demands
This is the first time in the history ofBahrainthat the majority of people, of Bahraini
people, got together with one message: this regime must fall, said Muhammad
Abdullah, 43, who was almost shaking with emotion as he watched the swelling crowd.
I feel freedom like I never felt it in my life, but Im also a little worried, said Hussein
al-Haddad, 32, as he marched with the Shiite protesters on Tuesday. What is going to
happen next?
Day of Rage
14 February 2011
Over 6,000 Bahrainis participated in peaceful protests: 55 marches in 25 locations
throughout Bahrain.
Security forces responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, stun grenades. More than 30
protesters were injured; 1 was killed.
Aftermath
15 February 2011: Man killed by police at funeral of another protestor. Protestors
occupied Pearl roundabout a famous landmark and camped there for 15th and 16th
without police interference
17 February 2011: Police launch attack to clear the site killing four protestors and
injuring hundreds more
18-19 February 2011: clashes between army and protestors to reclaim Pearl
Roundabout. Troops eventually withdrew and protestors were allowed to camp there.
15 March: 3 month state of emergency declared. Despite police crackdown, small
scale protests and clashes continued
April 2012: More than 80 people died during the uprising
Media coverage
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 had difficulty gaining access to protests
Bahraini newspapers have given substantial coverage to the protests, although many
of them tend to self-censor and adopt the government point of view, avoiding criticism
of the king and the Royal family.
Al-Wasat, a newspaper founded by an opposition figure in 2004, was an exception to
this rule and a positive influence on other newspapers according to the Committee to
Protect Journalists.
Despite all the censorship, the Government allowed Al-Wasat to keep operating, only
suspending the newspaper for one day, on 3 April 2011