Protes

ts
2011

Bahrain - Introduction

The Kingdom of Bahrain

Archipelago
Capital: Manama
Population: 1,343,000
Area: 765 km2 (Hong Kong is 2,755 km2; New Territories is 945 km2)
Religion: Islam
Government: Constitutional monarchy (the King appoints the government)

Background

Arab Spring - 18 December 2010

Tunisia Revolution
Spread throughout Middle Eastern countries

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

Rewriting of the constitution

Constitutional monarchy
An elected government and
A representative Parliament
Resignation of unelected and worlds longest serving Prime Minister

 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