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September 1996: Clashes and mass demonstrations defy the foreign security forces

1 September: The 40th-day commemoration of the martyrdom of Zahra Ibrahim Kadhem, 53 years old, who was beaten to death by the foreign forces on 23 July went ahead in Bani Jamra and other places for the past three days. The foreign forces clashed with women in Bani Jamra cemetery last Thursday (29 August). The women gathered around the grave of the martyr and chanted slogans denouncing the ruling family which gave permission for foreign forces to kill the innocent citizens of Bahrain.

3 September: In Demestan, the house of Mohammed Abdulla Dhaif, 40, was put under siege following a raid to arrest him. In Muharraq, several houses were raided and the family of Mr. Khalil Darwish (3 sons and several daughters) were taken hostages to force their father to hand himself to the security forces. Several families in Muharraq as well as in Seqayya (a district of Manama) are suffering from the recent human rights abuses. Some of the recently suffering people come from the “bedoon” category. These are people who are denied of Bahraini passports as part of the racist policy of the ruling Al-Khalifa family.

4 September: An old man from Iskan-Jedhafs, Hajji Yousif Al-Sammak, was taken as a hostage to force his son-in-law to hand himself to the torturers in Al-Qala’a fort. A shop in Iskan-Jedhafs was damaged by fire on 4 September following clashes between residents and security forces. In Dair, the foreign forces mounted a wave of arbitrary arrests amongst teenagers following their failure to counter the intensive campaign of wall-writings.

5 September: More arrests are being reported on daily basis, with security forces storming houses and ransacking their contents.

6 September: The family of a young person were telephoned by the intelligence department and told that their son has been transferred to the psychiatric hospital for treatment. Mohammed Ibrahim Fatil, from Sanabis, was tortured severely to the extent that he had to be taken to hospital for mental treatment. This atrocity follows a wide spread campaign resulting in the arrest of scores of people.

7 September: In Canada, the Arab Community organised a seminar on Bahrain on 7 September in the university of Ottawa. The seminar, addressed by Dr. Mansoor Al-Jamri of the Bahrain Freedom Movement, was attended by over a hundred people who participated in the discussions on the background and future prospects for the uprising in Bahrain. The atrocities of the government were condemned by the participants who expressed their outrage at the way the civilised people of Bahrain are being treated by a medieval ruling establishment.

8 September: A seminar was organized by the Bahrain Women in London in commemoration of the martyrdom of Zahra Ibrahimn Kadhem, the 53-year old lady who was beaten to death by the foreign forces on 23 July. Several speakers outlined the role of the Bahraini women in leading and supporting the struggle for human and constitutional rights.

8 September: In a move that surprised observers, Bahrain’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Khalid Muhammad al-Musallam, was quoted saying that the government of Bahrain decided not to attend the 17th GCC Summit to be held in Doha, because Qatar insisted on pressing ahead with taking the case of Hawar islands to the Hague. This unwise move is a reflection of the inability of the prime minister to handle both internal and regional problems in a rational way.

8 September: Reuters quoted an official of the interior ministry stating that three men were arrested “in connection with a shooting attack on a policeman guarding the Russian consulate last month”. “The official named the three as Mohammed Abd-Ali Jassim Isa, Mohammed Reda Murtada and Farahat Khorsheed”. The relatives of these three as well as others are still held as hostages including the parents, the wife and 2-month baby of the first person. The total number of those arrested is much more the three named persons. Columns of fire were being seen in Duraz, Sitra, Aali and other uprising areas in what seems to be a resurfacing of new rounds of clashes between the citizens of the country and the foreign security forces. On the evening of 8 September, security units sealed-off part of the Makharqa district of Manama. All access to the area was denied until about midnight.

11 September: The Amir Sheikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa issued an unconstitutional for the recruitment of 40 employees to fill the-in vacancies in the rejected Shura council. The decree said “the council will now consist of 40 members and will be appointed by an Amiri decree!!. The recruited secretary-general will be given an Amiri gratitude by awarding him a status equivalent to an undersecretary of a ministry. The employees of this council are scheduled to start playing their roles in October in a desperate attempt to justify dictatorship.

11 September: At afternoon, it was reported that an explosion that damaged some cars occurred in Exhibition Road of Manama.

14 September: Sounds of explosions were heard in Manama (near Hoora and Rass Roman) and columns of fire were seen in principal uprising areas.

14 September: The foreign-staffed security forces committed further atrocities against the citizens of Bahrain. They attacked the houses of respected families and snatched mothers from their beds in the middle of the night. One of the mothers, Layla Habib Al-Sharakhi, was taken prisoners after a savage attack and intimidation of the whole family. Layla is the sister of Mona Al-Sharakhi, the daughter-in-law of Sheikh Al-Jamri, who had been arrested for several months earlier in the year. Another lady from Muharraq by the name Nasrin (Um Ali) is known to be amongst the group of women who suffered from the arbitrary arrest on the same night. More arrests in Muharraq have been reported and several families have lost all their male members.

15 September: The government stepped-up its oppressive campaign against the people of Bahrain. Three families from Muharraq were forcibly deported to Iran. The Iranian authorities refused to grant them entry and returned them to Bahrain. Since then they have been put under house arrest and full surveillance These families were born and had lived all their lives in Bahrain.

16 September: Fires and explosions were reported in Jedhafs and Sitra. Bani Jamra was besieged. The foreign forces rounded up scores of youth and deployed the unit which specializes in the jet-painting of walls to cover-up graffiti. Slogans on the walls stated “The life of Sheikh Al-Jamri is in danger”. Local papers stated on 16 September that two shop were set ablaze in Nuweidrat and an Asian had died as a result. The opposition denounces violence and calls on the government to stop the schemes of collective punishment which are igniting new wave of clashes. Clashes have been reported in Nuweidrat in the past two days with security forces ransacking houses and damaging public properties. More than 70 people from Nuweidrat have been arrested. The resurfacing of clashes and counter clashes in greater intensity is a direct outcome of the government attempt to implement its iron-fist policy.

18 September: Three shops were damaged by fire in Um al-Hassam. In Isa Town, Manama and Bilad al-Qadim, columns of fire were also seen during day and night.

20 September: The security forces attacked the grand Al-Sadiq Mosque in Qafool (Manama) at 1.00 pm local time. Two informers entered the mosque and lined themselves up behind those preparing for performing prayers. The two persons were spotted by the youth who noticed their unusual activities for listening and recording what was happening inside the mosque. The two informers gave a signal to two police jeeps stationed at the gates of the mosque notifying that they had been discovered. The informers ran to the jeeps who by then called in six more jeeps. Street clashes erupted between the citizens and the security forces, resulting in injuries and arbitrary arrests of youth. 21 September: Columns of fire were seen near Bastanah store (on Budaya Road) a bout a hundred meters off Sanabis. Security helicopters were flying low in the area up until 10 pm. Sounds of explosions were heard around Sanabis and Manama at around 11.00 and 12.00 pm.

22 September: Two agents arrested and dragged a young person while he was praying at tyhe grand mssque in Qafool. Another person was ordered to report to Nuaim Police Station the next day for torture and interrogation. The intelligence department summoned Haji Hassan Jaralla, 70, and his son Mahdi, 33, to the interior ministry. Haji Hassan has just been released after spending eight months in solitary confinement because of his refusal to prevent people from attending the grand mosque in Duraz. More than 23 thousands telephone users in Sitra had their lines cut-off as part of the collective punishment programme against the residents of Sitra. On 22 September, the residents of Duraz had their telephone lines cut-off.

23 September: Reuters stated that its Bahrain correspondent, Abbas Salman was detained on 21 September and kept until the next day. The correspondent was detained “for more than 24 hours for questioning over a story he wrote on the political situation in the Gulf state. Abbas Salman, 46, a Bahraini, was summoned to the Interior Ministry Saturday morning and held overnight. He was released Sunday afternoon. Salman, who has worked for Reuters since 1977, said no charges were laid against him”. This is not the first time correspondents from the international news agencies had been harassed, a policy that resulted in the moving of both AFP and Reuters offices from Bahrain to Dubai. This attack on freedom of information is indicative of the dictatorial nature of the outdated feudal government that insists on living in the dark ages. The interior ministry announced that it picked up four people from Nuweidrat and that they confessed to have burnt two shops that resulted in the death of an Asian on 14 September. More than 70 people were arbitrarily arrested from Nuweidrat during a ransacking operation. Members of the intelligence department stormed the house of Redha Jawad (Manama) at 1.00 am in the morning (23 september) and arrested him. He had just returned from Egypt. The intelligence department has been conducting a campaign to arrest people with the first name, Redha. They also stormed the house of Redha Al-Makhlooq. Since the latter was not at home, they took his brother, Sadiq, as a hostage.

24 September: At night, the residents of Karbabad started the 40th day commemoration of the martyrdom of Seyed Ali Amin Mohammed, who was tortured to death on 17 August. Lights in streets and houses were switched-off marking the beginning of the commemoration programme. The main assembly hall (matam) of the village has been closed down by the foreign-staffed forces for the past 40 days. The security forces attacked the peaceful commemoration and imposed a siege on the village. In Duraz, a mass demonstration took to the streets last night (24 September) at around 6.45 pm (local time). The demonstrators marched towards the assembly hall (Matam Ansar al-Adalah) which was closed down last month after the arrest of the elderly man in-charge of the place, Mr. Issa Al-Ajami. All slogans demanded the restoration of the dissolved parliament, the release of political prisoners and an end to the collective punishment programmes being implemented by the foreign forces. Two security helicopters were deployed to direct the ground aggression launched by the foreign forces against the citizens. Two loud explosions were heard at 9.00 pm local time in Ain-Adhari area. Security helicopters were then deployed against the residents of Karranah and Karbabad at around 9.30 pm. At night, many places erupted including Sanabis, Daih, Jidhafs, Tashan, Bori and Sitra. All were later besieged by the foreign forces. Loud explosions were heard in most areas. The 25th of September marks the 40th commemoration day of the martyr Seyed Ali Amin Mohammed and the 1st anniversary of the release of Sheikh Al-Jamri and his colleague. Last year, the jailed leaders were released following an agreement between the opposition and the interior ministry to calm down the situation. When Sheikh Al-Jamri and his colleagues calmed down protests, the security forces re-launched their aggressive attacks against mosques, schools and residential areas, thus provoking the situation. Sheikh Al-Jamri and many thousands were re-arrested last January as part of a game being played by members of the ruling family who are competing against each other at the expense of the security and stability of the nation.

26 September: Following a mass demonstration in Duraz security forces attacked the houses and arrested many people. Columns of fires were seen at around 6.00 pm (local time). The foreign forces used tear gas and rubber bullets in their aggression against the citizens. At night more than 15,000 people gathered in Manama for religious processions while many thousands marched in all other principal areas. Pro-democracy slogans were chanted demanding the restoration of the elected parliament and release of jailed leaders and political prisoners. Riot police attacked the procession in Manama and Bilad al-Qadim towards the end of the night.

27 September: The message from the people of Bahrain was made clear in the past four days as demonstrations spread all over the country defying the sieges of security forces. On Friday night (27 September) most principal areas witnessed demonstrations and clashes with sounds of explosions heard in many places. Riot police and military helicopters were deployed against the unarmed citizens in Duraz, Sanabis, Daih, Jidhafs, Dair, Karzakkan, Samaheej, Arad, Sar and Malkiya. Security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas from ground and air. Earlier in the day the residential areas responded to the call of the opposition and switched off utilities at 2.00 pm local time for 15 minutes in solidarity with the thousands of political prisoners.

28 September: On the eve of announcing the names of 40 appointees for the governmental talk shop, the so-called Shura Council, the State Security Court presided by a member of the ruling Al-Khalifa family sentenced more youths from Sanabis. The biased court whose verdicts can not be appealed, passed the following arbitrary sentences on 28 September against the following people: Mohammed Jaffer Al-Sabagh, 5 years imprisonment, Ali Jaffer Al-Sabagh, 5 years, Jaffer Al-Mokhoder, 5 years, Ali Abdul Hussain, 5 years, Majid Abbas, 3 years, Hussain Al-Kantalah, 3 years, Hesham Al-Johary, 5 years, Hassan Al-Hadad 5 years, Shaker Kayyed , 3 years.

28 September: The security forces ended their 5-day siege against the residents of Karbabad yesterday with many of the people taken prisoners. The religious scholar of the area, Sheikh Hassan Awal, 57, was also intimidated and detained. During the siege, the security forces prevented a pregnant women from going to the hospital and prevented any doctor from attending for the birth which was handled by local women. Also, the “sweat water” tankers were prevented from entering the village. No one was allowed in or out and the children of Karbabad emerged yesterday from the vicious siege talking about the atrocities of the attackers. The anger of the people continued at night (28 September) to be vented through the exploding of gas cylinders in may places. Several areas witnessed continuation of the protests including Aali, Bori, Nuweidrat, Sitra, Bani Jamra and Duraz.

28 September: The government announced the names of forty people who had been appointed by the prime minister for the so-called Shura Council. The failure of the prime minister to find any respected personality for his governmental committee caused the delay in the announcement. For that reason he summoned some people to his office on Wednesday 25 September, towards the end of the day, and informed them that they had been appointed to the council without allowing any response. With Thursday and Friday taken as weekend days off-work, some people were astonished to hear their names on TV and Radio as members of the council. This way of appointing is indicative of the failure of the prime minister to gain any respect from the highly respected politicians and professionals. The people of Bahrain have no time to waste with a governmental committee that has no legal basis and that has been prevented from debating political issues as per the Amiri Order No. 12 Article 2a. The latter restricted the scope of consultation on laws (issued by the cabinet) relating to “social, cultural, educational and health matters”.