Bahrain : Besiege of Sanabis, fire of intensive tear gas and confrontations until late
Prosecution of minors and others participants in protest activities
Early yesterday evening, the Bahraini special security forces besieged Sananbis village (2km west of the capital Manama) upon news of a protest march from the village center. At sunset, the heavily armed security forces flowed in large numbers into the open areas in the vicinity of the village, blocked main entrance, and started heavy firing of tear-gas canisters and rubber bullets from a distance to the participants in the march, which started at around 9pm near the cemetery, located in the center of Sanabis.
Bahrain : Besiege of Sanabis, fire of intensive tear gas and confrontations until late
Prosecution of minors and others participants in protest activities
Early yesterday evening, the Bahraini special security forces besieged Sananbis village (2km west of the capital Manama) upon news of a protest march from the village center. At sunset, the heavily armed security forces flowed in large numbers into the open areas in the vicinity of the village, blocked main entrance, and started heavy firing of tear-gas canisters and rubber bullets from a distance to the participants in the march, which started at around 9pm near the cemetery, located in the center of Sanabis.
The march was attended by dozens of young people, of both sex, launched slogans to claim rights and release of detainees in prisons. They also denounced the scheme of demographic change and targeting of activists that were reported in the locally dubbed “Bandargate” report issued by Dr. Salah Albandar-secretary general of the UK- based Gulf Center for the Development of Democracy .
After starting the protest march, special forces accumulated at the northern and southern entrances of the village and commenced intensive firing tear gas, extensively covering the atmosphere of Sanabis and adjacent areas (villages of Daih and Karbabad). Columns of smoke coming of blazed rubber garbage containers were observed from a long distance, while all roads leading to the village were blocked. All local shops were closed and traffic was halted in the total darkness within the village avenues, but of young people participating in the clashes with the security forces. These were prevented from enter the village, but later ransacked it after bombarding it with heavy tear and face-burning gas and rubber bullets. This situation lasted for over three hours from the commencement of the protest.
In parallel, protests were launched in Daih village –neighbouring to Sanabis- where the Bahraini special forces blocked its entrances, from north and south, fired tear gas and rubber bullets on houses, prevented residents from leaving their homes, even to hospital, and banned ambulances from reaching them. On the other hand, similar acts of protest, less in size, triggered in both Belad Al-Qadeem ( 2 km south of the Capital) and Karzakan (10 km south-west of Manama), setting fire to tires and garbage containers, and attended by a limited number of special security forces to yield the same treatment to protesters.
It should be noted that some civic committees planned similar protest marches, in villages like Bani Jamrah, 4-km west of Manama-on April 1, in the memory of what is locally dubbed as “Black Saturday” commemorating the besiege of the village and attacking and killing at least three of its citizens in protest against the arrest of late Sheikh Abdul Ameer Al-Jamri.
On the other hand, the Bahraini security authorities declared Wednesday-April 28, to prosecute detainees of the protests that occurred in the village of Bani Jamrah on last February 22. Out of those detained are: Jaafar Salman Yusuf (23 years) from the village of Karanh, and Radhi Ali Radhi (22 years) from the village of Abu Saiba.
Also declared 18th of the same month for the trial of minors – not to exceed 17 years of age- who were released two weeks after their arrest because of their presence in the vicinity of protesting events, took place in the third week of last February. Still in custody are Sayed Ali Sayed Akbar (20 years), Jafar Sadiq Kadhem (21 years), Mahmood Ali Mahdi (22yrs) – from the village Karbabad, Mohammad Kareem (24 years) from the Jufair, and Jassem Jaafar Madan (25 years) from the village of Daih, since their arrest in the same period.
The Public Prosecutions accused all detainees – including the minors-with the charge of crowd and riot, according to Article 178 of the Penal Code, which states that “shall be punished by a term of up to two years and a fine no more than two hundred Dinars, or both, who participated in a gathering in a public place consisting of five persons at least, the purpose of which is to commit crimes, or acts equipping or facilitating for it, or disturb public security, even if that was to fulfill a legitimate objective”.
The activists condemned the excessive use of force by Bahraini security forces to disperse protesters and demonstrators, and deal harshly with popular protests in a manner that does not befit a member of the UN Human Rights Council. The Committee also calls for the Bahraini authorities to stop its pursuit of collective punishment in areas where protests occur, and deal with it in a civilized way, by abiding to the international covenants signed by Bahrain, headed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee calls on the authorities to stop dumping protest areas with chemical gases, which cause congestion and suffocation to people – especially children and the elderly. It also calls to defuse the tension resulting from the continued incarceration of detainees and stop chasing juveniles who were arrested in the protests. The Committee emphasizes that the continuing tense condition will not contribute to the stability of the general situation and work to reverse the image of Bahrain as politically and security unstable country.
Committee of Solidarity with Activists and Detainees of Conscience in Bahrain