Human Rights First Campaigns and Topics: Anniversary of Bahrain Protests by Brian Dooley
February 14 this year will be the fourth anniversary of the start of widespread protests in Bahrain for democracy. They were met with a violent government crackdown that left thousands of people in jail, many of them tortured. The protests never went away, and this year’s anniversary is likely to see another spike in demonstrations.
Since 2011 the marches have stayed mostly peaceful, but a minority now have a violent element. The grievances that brought people onto the streets in 2011 remain – anger at corruption, the lack of democracy and accountability and the behavior of security forces drawn almost exclusively from one sect. A ruling family still retains power in the kingdom.
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