‘Capital of torture’: Bahraini Shiite majority demands democratic rule

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Saturday May 11, 2013 13:29 by Turing

Where are the UN/EU Sanctions? Where are the calls for intervention? Oh! I forgot, its home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and there was intervention: in 2011 Saudi Arabia intervened to crush the protesters, Full text at link.

Thousands of anti-government activists flocked to the streets of the Shiite village of Daih in Bahrain to protest against the torture of victims arrested by the minority Sunni-ruled monarchy. The frustrated mob held up signs that read: “Manama, capital of torture,” and waved the national flag.

“Torture is a practice rooted in the security agencies,” in Bahrain, the main Shiite opposition bloc Al-Wefaq said in a statement. It added that these practice were “embedded in the security doctrine - corrupt and hostile to the citizens.”

Bahraini protestors hold up placards during an anti-government protest in the village of Jidhafs, west of Manama, on May 10, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mohammed Al-Shaikh)

On Wednesday, Bahrain Forum for Human Rights in Beirut announced the details of the international campaign against torture in prisons on the island. It also accused the authorities of arresting 120 people during the period between 16 - April 22. Human rights delegates condemned the use of force on citizens and the media blackout on the repression.