Bahrain dictatorship and opposition

Human Rights Defender Profile: Jihan Kazerooni of Bahrain: here.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Thursday said that the Bahraini appeals court’s decision to uphold the convictions of 20 human rights activists and political opponents was deeply regrettable: here.

Bahrain: World’s reaction unanimous on rejecting military court sentences: here.

The news giant CNN is under criticism for refusing to air a documentary it had commissioned and produced that featured a lengthy segment on the uprising against the U.S.-backed regime in Bahrain: here.

The year and a half long protest movement of the majority Shi’ite people of Bahrain could be forewarning of a crippling migraine headache for the USA if it succeeds in overthrowing the western installed Al Khalifah dictatorship that has ruled Bahrain since “independence”: here.

From Reuters news agency today:

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at dozens of anti-government protesters who defied a ban on unauthorized demonstrations and marched in the center of Bahraini capital Manama on Friday.

Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, has been in political turmoil since a protest movement dominated by majority Shi’ite Muslims erupted in February 2011 during a wave of revolts against authoritarian governments across the Arab world.

The Sunni Muslim ruling Al Khalifa family put down the uprising with martial law, troops from Saudi Arabia and police from the United Arab Emirates, but unrest has resumed, with almost daily clashes between Shi’ites and police.

Armored vehicles and riot police closed off some of the main roads leading into the city but protesters still made it to Friday’s march, which had been called by Bahrain’s main opposition bloc Al Wefaq and tweeted as “freedom for prisoners of conscience”.