U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch urged Bahrain on Wednesday to investigate allegations by four opposition activists that they were tortured in detention last month. Bahrain has banned media from reporting on the case of Abduljalil Singace, head of human rights activities at the mainly Shi’ite Haq movement, and other opposition members. Their detention on security [...]
Housing shortage is a key issue for October elections and there are only two bidders for the pilot scheme Bahrain’s plan to address its housing shortage using the private sector offers a neat solution to two of the country’s most pressing issues: the potential of civil unrest from the majority Shia population and a constrained [...]
MORE than 100 suspects have been arrested since the launch of a nationwide crackdown on street violence last month, it was claimed yesterday. They include 26 people facing charges under anti-terror laws for allegedly being part of a network trying to destabilise the country, sources told the GDN. A defence team has now been formed [...]
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The atmosphere leading up to Bahrain’s parliamentary election in the end of October is getting increasingly tense as the government has arrested several leading opposition figures and cracked down on street protestors. The agitation serves to highlight the disaffection of a significant portion of the population, but there is still [...]
For nearly two weeks, the Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain has experienced near-daily disturbances following government arrests of opposition activists from the majority Shiite community. The timing of the arrests seemed geared toward preempting trouble in advance of the scheduled October 23 parliamentary and municipal elections, which minority Sunni parties and candidates are currently [...]
The three women in head scarves and black abayas surged into the main atrium of the Seef Mall at 11 p.m. the other night, unfurling a banner outside the Next clothing boutique that read, “It is forbidden to arbitrarily arrest and detain people.”
A picture was taken, and in less than a minute they had dispersed. As they tried to leave, more than a dozen plainclothes and uniformed police officers surrounded one of them, Fakhria al-Singace, pinning her spread-eagled on a cafe table.
Bahrain’s public prosecutor has banned media from reporting on a prominent Shiite activist and scores of other opposition members detained in an ongoing crackdown ahead of October parliament elections.
Bahrain will extinguish the fire of terrorism from its soil, Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa pledged last night. He said acts of sabotage and arson by lawbreakers in various parts of the country will be stamped out. The tough clamp was pledged as the minister visited the General Directorate of Civil Defence, [...]
Bahrain on Monday denied any link between Iran and a group of Shiite activists arrested over the past week over an alleged involvement in a network planning to shake the state’s security and stability. Bahrain’s National Security Agency “denies that there is any link or relation between the elements arrested and the Islamic Republic of [...]
BAHRAIN’S business community has backed moves to stamp out acts of violence across the country. Repeated tyre burning and targeting of public property could threaten investment in Bahrain, according to the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). It said it welcomed public debate, but drew the line at illegal acts of sabotage. BCCI youth [...]
