Bahraini regime attacks girls, their little brother, in their home

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Fatima AlKhawaja, shot wird birdshot

From the blog In praise of Arab Capital of Culture 2012, Manama – Bahrain:

Aug 18

Bahrain: Fatima AlKhawaja: victim of shooting inside her house turns into a defendant!!

On 16 Aug 2013 a young girl Fatima AlKhawaja was shot with birdshot by security men INSIDE HER HOME, along with her younger brother Khalid (9 years old). Her younger sister was beaten as well.

The below is translation of tweets of @SuadAK about what happened after that, the text between [ ] is my addition for clarification:

1) After the attack on the child Fatima AlKhawaja [16 years old] and her family inside her home at Koura village [by police, with shotgun], and in the presence of all the evidence and witnesses, and following to the justification given by the officer Al-Thawadi..

2) that the attack was a personal act [not an implementation of an order], the father of the assaulted children (youngest is not more than 9 years old) took the case forward and filed a complaint at the police station of the Alwusta region. And after a lengthy investigation..

3) during which all the family members were detained until the middle of the night at the police station to give their statements, without giving any of them the required treatment and without taking into account their injuries..

4) and their young ages, thus Fatima Al Khawaja, suffered a setback after they came out of the police station and her health worsened because of the shotgun pellets sustained in different parts of..

5) of the abdominal area, consequently she was admitted to the recovery room [at the hospital]. Today 18 Aug 2013 the father receives a call from the Alwusta region police station which is the same department he filed the complaint with..

6) Asking him to bring in his daughter who is still lying in a hospital, on the grounds that there is a compliant submitted against her by a policeman [!!]. As it seems they are trying to make a bargain with the father in order to

7) make him waive the complaint he filed against those who assaulted his family. One of the policemen has already asked him yesterday for waiver of the complaint, citing that his daughter’s health condition was stable..

8) and to avoid what he called “the noise”. The father has refused to waive his right to complain. Until this moment Fatima is still bedridden in the hospital and her body rejected..

9) what she is taking by mouth. six pellets/fragments are still not extracted from her body, some are still stable in the stomach wall and difficult to extract as her doctor said..

10) And the decision wether she needs an operation or not would depend on the result of the scan conducted on her. Fatima Al Khawaja, a child and a member of my family, If her father accepted..

11) the cheap bargaining, threats and ready made charges in order to compromise his right and the right of his children in a country that claims to respect human rights and the child rights, I will not accept..

12) And I’m ready to bring their case to the press, and international human rights organizations and child rights organizations, and you may accuse us what you like of the charges of collaborating with the outside world and charges of discredit Bahrain..

13) The usual charges we are used to, what happened to them of abuse in their own homes is precedent that never happen before, and if you accept the acts of your security men, we will not accept it!

14) For your information, the ones who have assaulted [the children] are 2 masked men wearing clothing of commandos, speaking Bahraini dialect, According to the testimony of the mother of Fatima Al Khawaja, they may be two brothers due..

15) to the fact that their eyes were similar in features and color. The men also has threatened that they will kill them [the family members] and bury them inside their own home #brave!!

16) This is my voice, and this is my message, that if anything happened to me or to my family what I ask you is that you make sure our voice reaches to the world.

There have been continuing demonstrations calling for political reform across Bahrain for the past several days, under conditions of virtual martial law and lockdown. The authorities broke up demonstrations on August 14 with tear gas and birdshot, arresting at least 13 demonstrators. According to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, an organisation based in Manama, a large number of foreign mercenaries from Jordan and Pakistan aided government troops, firing tear gas and pepper spray indiscriminately: here.

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