"Voice of Bahrain Homepage"

Feb 1996

Security forces ransack residential areas, sponsor violence and arrest women of Bahrain

1 February: Mr. Abdul Jalil Hassan Al-Mutawwa (45 years old) who replaced Sheikh Hassan Sultan (one of the eight leaders in detention) in leading prayers in Dar Kulaib was arrested to prevent prayers in the mosque. All mosques must be closed by 9.30 pm and anybody found after 10.00 pm is liable for detention. An informal curfew has been implemented in most uprising-areas. A lady, Foziya Ahmed Al Mukhoudher from Sanabis was arrested for unknown reasons.

2 February: The Bahraini security forces dragged the internal situation to violence through attacking mosques, detaining and torturing opponents, inciting violence and committing arson in residential uprising-areas as a form of collective punishment. An old-fashioned cover-up was needed and what’s more ready than blaming Iran.Thus, the third secretary of the Iranian embassy in Manama, Mr. Abdul-Rasool Dokoohki was “given one week to pack his bags and go”. The Iranians retaliated in a similar way.

3 February: The Committee for Popular Petition (CPP) issues an historic statement. (See Current Affairs)

4 February: The eight Kuwaiti MPs who were banned from entering Bahrain after sending a letter to the ruler of Bahrain urging him to listen to Bahraini people just demands, condemned the attitude of the government. “If we, members of a legislative authority in a sisterly state, are being treated like this for merely submitting a plea, how about the people there on the ground?” said deputy Adnan Abdul-Samad to Reuters. “This illustrates the way the (Bahraini) authority deals with matters”.

The information minister declares that a decree is being studied to speed-up the passing of adminstrative sentences against political suspects detained during the crackdown.

6 February: A seminar organized by the leading Al-Orooba Club in Manama was canceled by the intelligence department. The seminar entitled “Democracy and Shura” was splanned to be addressed by distinguished speakers Mr. Ahmad Al-Shamlan, Dr. Abdul Latif Al-Mahmood and Dr. Ali Al-Oreibi.

7 February: Mr. Ahmad Al-Shamlan is arrested. (See Current Affairs)

8 February: The Bahraini security forces continued their attacks on the peaceful residential areas of Bahrain destroying private cars and properties as a form of collective punishment. Residents witnessed these forces transporting burnt furniture items and placing them in several public places for photographing. Similarly, these forces bring with them many other items, believed to be explosive devices, for photographing inside mosques. Most mosques are now without prayers after the arrest of virtually all clerics leading the prayers. The latest to be arrested is Sheikh Ahmed Al Faraj from Samaheej (Muharraq).

11 February: Cycle of violence hits the Diplomat Hotel. The Associated Press reported that “the explosion occurred in the street outside the hotel in downtown Manama”.

12 February: The crown prince, Sheikh Hamad, pays a visit to the US military HQ in Jufair and for the first time since 1948 the offical papers publicize the existence of Jufair military headquarters. The crown prince visited the administrative command centre of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet which moved ashore three years ago from the USS La Salle, to beg for support from the US for the aggressive policies against the peaceful people of Bahrain. He also asked to visit the US but his visit was turned down. Instead he decided to head a military committee which was scheduled to visit Washington around 7 March. A military officer stated in a private discussion that the crown prince met recently with senior personnel in the defence forces and ordered them to be on alert. He also stated that the crown prince mentioned he was prepared to permit the killing of “villagers” to settle matters militarily. Responding to all these developments, both the British and American embassies issued fresh security alerts for their nationals in Bahrain to avoid all villages. At 2.30 am three lorries packed with riot police armed with live ammunition raided the village of Jannosan, located on the Budaya Highway. This was the begining of a series of attacks led by Khalid Al-Wazzan resulting in more than 50 people arrested, mostly children and teenagers. The oppisition calls on the people of Bahrain to boycott Eid celebrations and to wear black.

13 February: Robert Fisk of the UK Independent newspaper starts a series of articles on Bahrain. The first article surveyed the nature of the pro-democracy opposition and the brutal response of the government. Sheikh Aziz mosque ( Sehla) was encircled and those attempting to attend for prayers were subjected to inhumane treatment. On the same day, people praying in Nuwaidrat mosque were attacked by riot police while performing their prayers. Many were arrested. Similarly, Seyed Hashim mosque in Tobli was encircled by riot police to prevent people from attending. Balloons were seen in the air in several places carrying slogans denouncing the oppressive campaign. Eighteen Swedish MPs and representatives of political parties wrote to the Amir of Bahrain urging him to restore democracy in Bahrain. This plea comes at a time when many international human rights organizations expressed their concern at the atrocities committed by the Bahraini security forces. The anti-torture Geneva-based SOS organization issued a statement condemning the detention and ill-treatment of members of the opposition.

14 February: The interior ministry announces that a car exploded in Isa Town (south of Manama) at a distance from the commercial market.

15 February: At 7.00 pm, security forces encircled Makharga district of Manama and attacked the people in Momin mosque, Khawaja mosque and Mattam Al-Qassab. Haji Ahmed Salloom, the person in-charge of Mattam Bin-Salloom (religious gathering place) was summoned by the intelligence department and questioned about the popularity of the gathering place. The security officer also demanded that he hands over Jaffer Al-Durazi and Saleh Al-Durazi, both of whom had already been arrested two months ago. This is yet another proof of the arbitrary nature of the crackdown.

17 February: At around 1.30 am units belonging to riot police raided Jannosan. Nine teenagers were arrested. Clashes erupted in Sitra and security forces used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse demonstrators. Similarly, Karranah was the scene of intense clashes that continued until early hours of 18th February. Sheikh Khalid Ferdos who escaped to Saudi Arabia four months ago returned few days ago to Bahrain after his mother was taken hostage by the security forces. Upon his return via the causeway linking the two countries, he was arrested and beating started from the first minute. Sayed Shaker from Jid-Ali was also arrested to prevent him from leading prayers in any mosque.

18 February: The “Independent on Sunday” publishes a unique photograph of the British chief of intelligence and security in Bahrain, Mr. Ian Henderson, togetherwith an investigation into the torture chambers he manages in Bahrain in a bid tocurb the drive for democratising the political system.

20 February: The first day of Eid. People boycotted celebration and gathered in cemetries to remember the martyrs (see below).

21 February: Venting their hatred, the security forces attacked residential areas in several places. Residents in Sanabis were attacked and any youth found wearing black shirt or cloth was arrested on the spot. Abu-Saiba village was encircled by units of riot police which later attacked the youths beating them with batons and injuring many of them. A mass demonstration took to the streets of Dair in Muharraq. Security forces used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the march.

22 February: Riot police attacked Sanad village, south of the capital Manama at around 2.30 pm and arrested six people.

23 February: Riot police attacked the grand mosque in Qafool and arrested two religious scholars as well as many people who were participating in the Friday prayer. The two clerics are Sheikh Fadel Hammad and Sheikh Abbas. The siege ended with riot police chasing people into residential areas. Reuters reported from Bahrain that “anti-government protesters in Bahrain set a local bank on fire on Thursday night, blocked a main highway and exploded gas cylinders÷ …Residents said the National Bank of Bahrain’s branch in Karzakkan .. was attacked on Thursday night and set on fire, causing damage but no injuries÷…Residents said they heard several loud blasts caused by gas cylinders exploding in open spaces, which cause commotion but little damage and have become a nightly feature of village protests÷ … A main road was barricaded briefly with burning dead palm trees near Adhari park, close to the capital, which is popular with visitors chiefly from Saudi Arabia÷”. A person was chased in Karzakkan and hit by a live shot. The injured person Mohammed Reda Eid now lies in the military hospital.

24 February: Local papers published the names of four people who the interior ministry claimed are responsible for planting explosive devices. The four were Abdulla Naser Al-Toug, 24 years old, Ali Hassan Abdulla Al-Ghannam, 35, Hamza Abdulhassan Ibrahim, 25, and Ahmad Haider Abbas Haider, 20. The interior ministry is attempting to calm down fears ahead of a major conference in Bahrain between 10 and 13 March bringing together businessmen from the West and Gulf countries. These four were selected as scapegoats in an attempt to convince businessmen not to cancel the conference. It is worth-noting that last January the interior ministry announced the names of three people with the same initials of “Redha” and blamed them for planting an explosive device in a shopping centre on new year eve. The three “Redhas”÷ were a sample from the many people who had been arrested having the same initial name in Manama district of Makharga! Security forces created a “security zone” around Sanabis, Jammah, Burhama, Jedhafs and Daih. They also closed Budaya Highway from Qafool to Bahrain International Hospital. Residents were banned from entering or leaving the area. The siege lasted until 2.00 am on 25 February. On Saturday evening the interior ministry claimed that a bomb ripped the car of the editor-in-chief of Al-Ayyam. This explosion was believed to have been made by the security forces near Al-Ayyam and the Jufair US military HQ to justify the crackdown.

25 February: The Scottish “Sunday Mail” publishes large coloured photographes ofthe British officer Ian Stewart MacWalter Henderson and calls him “Barbarian of Bahrain”.

26 February: Security forces raided Sanabis at mid-night and arrested many people. Many cars have been damaged by police as a form of collective punishement. Some of the damaged cars belong to Abdali Al Sharah (Benz 40206), Abdul Jaleel Abdullah (Mitsobishi 18347), Fadhel Abdulla (Honda 1187076), Ali Al Sharah (Datson 44102).

27 February: Mr. Abdulla Fakhroo, 70 years old (who comes from the Sunni and wealthy Fakhroo family) is arrested.

29 February: Security forces conducted a serious of outrageous attacks on several villages simultaneously. Dair, Abo-Gowa, Jannossan Duraz and Bani Jamra were amongst the worst hit areas. Bani Jamra was surrounded at 1.30 am February and door-to-door breaking-in started immediately. Two mosques were ransacked, including Zein al-Abdin mosque. The daughter-in-law of Sheikh Al-Jamri, Mona Habib (33 years old) was also arrested. Mona is a mother of three children and her husband, Mohammed Jamil is in jail since 1988. Nine other women were also arrested from other parts of the country. Zahra Helal Salman (33 years old) and her sister Iman, 24, were arrested during a dawn raid on 29 February. Their father went on hunger strike in protest. Zahra’s husband is in jail since January 1995. Other women include Naeema Khamis, Hoda Saleh Al-Jallawi, Mariam Ahmad Al-Mo’min, Zahra Abdali, 19. At 2.45 am (29 February), other security forces units headed by the notorious Khalid Al-Wazzan attacked Jannossan again. They attacked the house of Mr. Ali Khamis and arrested his son Saeed, 20 years old. Saeed was snatched from his bed.

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Eid celebrations cancelled

Normal celebrations to mark the end of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr) have been cancelled in response to the call by the opposition to boycott all types of happy celebrations. On the morning of 20 February, people poured to cemeteries to visit the graves of martyrs who were killed by security forces during demonstrations or in police custody. In Dair (Muharraq) a mass gathering of people wearing black-coloured cloths (symbol of protest) poured into the cemetery around the grave of one of the martyrs Hussain Al-Asheeri. Similarly in Sanabis, Duraz, Bani Jamra and Sitra, people gathered in cemeteries around graves of martyrs exchanging condolences with relatives and friends of the 14 martyrs. In Daih, riot police attacked Al-Anwari mosque and arrested Hassan Ebrahim Mattar, 26 years old, Saeed Ali Maki, 35, Ali Al-Jaziri, Abdulnabi Al-Sayad, 49, and his son Sameer, 25, Yousif Hashim, and several others. Riot police also fired tear gas and rubber bullets chasing people and imposing a curfew. Any young person wearing black cloth was chased and many were later arrested. Armoured vehicles were stationed in the area.

Clashes in Sitra intensified and special forces were deployed in addition to riot police. Random arrests were carried out in the process of breaking-in houses. In Jedhafs, an elderly Mr Ibrahim Helal, 63 years old, was arrested because he runs a business for selling used tools and components, including empty gas cylinders. Security forces attacked houses and premises and confiscated numerous gas cylinders. In Duraz, gas cylinders were exploded in the early hours of the day.

The Associated Press reported from Bahrain (20 Februray) that “At least 20 people were arrested in the villages of Karzakan and Malkhiyeh, outside Manama. Armoured personnel carriers were seen at the villages’ entrances. The arrests came on the first day of the three-day feast of Eid al-Fitr, which follows the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan… At a cemetery in Bani Jamrah, home to a jailed opposition leader, women wearing black chadors sobbed Tuesday as they mourned relatives by spreading flowers on graves. Four-wheel drive vehicles filled with riot police, some armed with semi-automatic rifles, patrolled villages”.

A businessman entered the Holiday Inn hotel to meet a company representative on 19 February. He described the hotel as a cemetery. Rooms rate in the top hotels dropped to 15% of their values with Sheraton having 25 rooms occupied out of a total of 300. The room rate in the Gulf Hotel dropped to 10 dinars (around $30). The telecommunication industry is losing around 13,000 dinars a day as a result of the banning of international calls from public phone-boxes.

Daily Telebraph
Tuesday 13 February 1996

Demand for jobs and votes fuels unrest in Bahrain

By Gerald Butt

GRIEVANCES about unemployment and demands for democratic reform are stoking anti-government protests in the small Gulf state of Bahrain, according to financial experts and diplomats.

Four people were injured when a bomb exploded in a luxury hotel on Sunday night in the island’s capital, Manama. Last month, a bomb exploded at another hotel, but caused no injuries.

There have been numerous recent grenade and arson attacks. They have continued despite the arrest of hundreds of Bahrainis.

The trouble has centred on poor Shi’ite Muslim villages, and the Bahraini authorities have blamed Iran for inciting the violence.

Last month, an Iranian diplomat was expelled from Bahrain, but Teheran has denied being involved in the island’s troubles.

Iran has a long-standing, dormant claim on Bahrain where Shi’ites form the most of the half-million population. The ruling Khalifa family are from the mainstream Sunni branch of Islam.

Dissent among Shi’ites, as in other Arab countries, has built up around mosques. But diplomats and financial experts say economic and social conditions, rather than Islamic fundamentalism, are behind the violence.

“In the past, the government could have bought off the protesters. Now there is no money to do so”

Bahrain’s oil production has fallen to negligible amounts in relative Gulf terms because of dwindling reserves. The island’s refinery, too, has been affected by falling oil prices and sales within the region. As a result, widespread and growing unemployment has become a problem on the island, and this has hit the poorest and worst educated Shi’ites the hardest.

“In the past, the government could have bought off the protesters. Now there is no money to do so,” said a Gulf financial expert.

Bahraini protesters link grievances about jobs to demands for greater democracy. Parliament was suspended in 1975 after it criticised the government.

According to a diplomat in the Gulf, “the Shi’ites in Bahrain believe that if they had greater political clout then they would get a fairer share of the cake”.

In Bahrain, as in all Gulf states, there is a simmering grievance against the way that the ruling family and its entourage have taken the majority of the oil earnings for themselves.

The Bahraini authorities have cracked down hard on opponents of the regime. Leading the attempts to stamp out dissent is Ian Henderson, a former British officer who is the director-general of security for Sheikh Isa, the ruler.

Among the hundreds in detention are several leading Shi’ite Muslim clerics accused of plotting to destabilise the country. The violence first erupted in December 1994 after four other leading clerics had been deported. In the trouble that followed, three policemen and 13 civilians were kille