Bahraini regime forces attack houses of opposition leaders – Bahrain Freedom Movement

19/09/2012 – 12:59 p | Hits: 151

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have stormed the houses of two leading opposition leaders as Al Khalifa regime continues its heavy-handed handling of critics in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

Bahraini troops broke into houses of Shula and Bazzaz on Tuesday and searched both residences very thoroughly.

The incidents came as an international rights group says the Bahraini regime has failed to make good on a promise to implement political reforms in the country.

“Despite the King’s promises, the reforms remain widely insufficient,” the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said on Tuesday.

The report is based on more than a year of investigations into Bahraini regime’s behaviors and policies in the aftermath of the mass demonstrations that rocked the Persian Gulf state in February 2011.

FIDH urged Bahraini authorities to release all political prisoners and “to support the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism … to monitor the implementation of the recommendations” of the independent commission of inquiry.

Prominent Human rights figure, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, and opposition leader, Hassan Mushaimaa, are among those sentenced to life in prison.

The Bahraini revolution began in mid-February 2011, when the people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations.

The Bahraini government promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring Persian Gulf states.

Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds, including doctors and nurses accused of treating injured revolutionaries.

A report published by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in November 2011 found that the Al Khalifa regime had used excessive force in the crackdown and accused Manama of torturing political activists, politicians, and protesters.

The protesters say they will continue holding anti-regime demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically elected government is met.