DUBAI, UAE – A decade after protesters gathered in the Bahraini capital to demand the fall of their government in 2011, authorities continue to suppress all signs of dissent. Activists behind those troubled days say the memory of protests that threatened control over the power of the Sunni monarchy is almost extinguished.
But many live with the consequences.
“This was the beginning of the dark era,” said Jawad Fairooz, a former exile from the Shiite political party Al-Wefaq, now outlawed, who was stripped of his nationality for his political work in 2012.
Although many activists and protesters have escaped into exile or been imprisoned, the threat of dissent persists in this small kingdom with a majority Shiite population off the east coast of Saudi Arabia.
Unlike the Arab monarchies in the neighboring Gulf, low-level unrest has affected Bahrain in recent years. Police took to the streets of the city in the last week, residents say, without risking a renewed demonstration.
A website for the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, commissioned by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, which hosted an independent report on the 2011 protests and the government crackdown that ended them, mysteriously went offline before being restored on Thursday. . The government described it as a “technical problem” without elaborating.
For weeks since February 14, 2011, thousands of people have flocked to Bahrain, daring and energized by pro-democracy protests across Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. The protests in Bahrain were organized primarily by Shiites from the nation seeking greater political rights in the Persian Gulf state, which is a key Western ally and hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
“It was overwhelming,” recalled Nazeeha Saeed, a reporter at the time for a French news channel, describing the frightening days in Pearl Roundabout, the symbolic center of the capital, Manama, later bulldozed by authorities. “I have never seen anything like it. People have forgotten that we are a kingdom in the Persian Gulf supported by powerful monarchies. “
Soon, Saeed said, everything went horribly wrong. Security forces tried to disperse the sit-in, responding to protests with torrents of tear gas, rubber bullets and, in some cases, live fire. Police shot a protester in the head, just 20 meters in front of her. She said she was detained and beaten because she told foreign journalists what she saw.
Now in exile in Berlin, Saeed said he could not return home. Bahrain fined $ 2,650 in 2017 for working with a government-issued press card. At the same time, the government refused to accredit two journalists from the Associated Press and has since strictly controlled visas to report to the island.
As the violence escalated in the weeks of February 2011, the demonstrations entered a popular movement that crosses sectarian divisions. The demands for constitutional reform have turned into demands for the dismemberment of the country’s political structure. The monarchy turned to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for help, calling on foreign troops to crush the protests.
Following the crackdown, King Hamad ordered the investigation of an internationally recognized commission of lawyers and scholars led by the late law professor Cherif Bassiouni. The resulting 500-page report, based on more than 5,100 interviews with protesters and residents, describes prisons full of torture, dozens of arbitrary arrests and the extraction of forced confessions against those caught in the dragnet. The detainees, according to the report, were beaten and forced to kiss the photos of the king and the prime minister.
A decade later, activists in Bahrain and exile say their country is far less free than it was in 2011. By portraying criticism of its government as an Iranian plot to undermine the country, the government has stepped up its crackdown. Bahrain has accused Iran of provoking protests in 2011, although the report by Bassiouni and other experts has found no evidence.
Tehran denies intervention in Bahrain, although weapons confiscated on the island have been linked back to Iran. Even Iran, under the former chess, tried to claim Bahrain as part of its territory.
Prior to the anniversary of the 2011 events, Bahraini officials did not respond to repeated requests from The Associated Press for comment.
In 2011, authorities targeted not only Shiite political groups and religious leaders, but also human rights activists, journalists and online opponents. Mass attempts have become commonplace. Political parties have been dismantled. Collecting independent news 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 can end up in prison, despite Bahrain’s constitution guaranteeing citizens freedom of expression. Nabeel Rajab, one of the most prominent leaders of the protests of 2011, was released only last year under house arrest due to the coronavirus pandemic after serving an internationally punishable prison sentence for years..
As the coronavirus pandemic hit the country in March last year, the government said it had arrested more than 40 people for spreading rumors about the virus and “disturbing public safety.” And last fall, activists say, authorities searched the internet for dissent after the death of longtime prime minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. One of the key demands of the protesters in 2011 was for Prince Khalifa to resign and be tried for corruption and human rights violations.
A Bahraini man, a former journalist who refused to be identified for fear of reprisals, said he had been jailed for two weeks after posting a Koranic verse on social media that security forces said suggested enjoys the death of the prime minister. One inmate in the same cell posted some politically charged poems, while another simply posted the words “good morning” on Twitter, he said.
“Since 2011 we have only moved back,” said the 47-year-old. “Now, the only meaning of the ‘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.