Bahraini democrats attacked by police

From the BBC:

12 January 2012 Last updated at 22:18 GMT

Bahrain protests: Police use tear gas to break up march

Security police have used tear gas and stun grenades to break up an anti-government march in Bahrain’s capital, Manama.

The organisers say more than 3,000 people took part, in spite of a heavy security presence.

The government says the protest was illegal.

Activists from Bahrain’s Shia Muslim majority have been demonstrating against the kingdom’s ruling Sunni monarchy since last February.

Thursday’s march in the centre of Manama was led by a prominent human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab.

“We are using the streets peacefully. We are marching for our rights,” he told the BBC.

One activist tweeted: “Manama is filled with tear gas, protesters running in all directions, followed by shooting and riot police.”

Bahraini riot police beat a prominent human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, as he was leaving a peaceful protest on January 6, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. The Bahraini authorities should immediately halt attacks on peaceful protesters, Human Rights Watch said: here.

Dr. Mike Diboll is a British academic who spent 3 years working at The University of Bahrain between 2007 and 2010. He has written this open letter to The University of Edinburgh to condemn their recent partnership with Bahrain’s Ministry of Education.

Bahrain has denied Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley’s request to visit the kingdom next week, a step Dooley notes sends a “terrible signal” to those closely following the Bahraini regime’s crackdown on those fighting for democratic reform. The Government of Bahrain suggested such visits should be delayed until March. The latest denial comes less than two weeks after Bahrain refused to admit Rick Sollom of the U.S.-based nonprofit organization Physicians for Human Rights: here.