Monday, March 21, 2011

Bahrainis continue anti-regime protests

Bahrainis continue to protest against the Al Khalifa regime amid concerns over rising human rights abuses in the Persian Gulf kingdom.


On Monday, thousands of anti-regime protesters mourned the death of another protester in the village of Buri.

Waving black and Bahraini flags, the mourners shouted slogans such as “Down with Al Khalifa.”

Abdulrusul Hajair, 38-year-old father-of-three, had gone missing a few days ago and was found on Sunday, apparently beaten to death.

Bahrain's largest Shia opposition group, al-Wefaq, said police told Hajair's family on Sunday to collect his body from hospital.

Hadi al-Moussawi, one of around 21 former al-Wefaq lawmakers, said on Sunday that almost 100 people have gone missing during the government's crackdown on protesters.

"We don't know anything about them, we've asked hospital and ministry authorities and none of them are telling us anything about them," he told a protest in front of the United Nations building in Manama.

More than 13 people have been killed and about 1,000 injured since the start of the anti-government protests in mid-February.

Protesters have demanded the ouster of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa from the Persian Gulf kingdom.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Bahraini regime to end its crackdown on medical staff and human rights activists who speak out against government abuses.

“Bahrain should end its campaign of arrests of doctors and human rights activists,” HRW said in a statement released on Monday.

The human rights group said that “masked” security forces detained several doctors and rights activists on March 19-20.

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