BBC Sport- 9 February 2012

Formula 1 has been urged to call off the Bahrain Grand Prix by a group of leading British peers in the wake of continuing unrest in the Gulf state.

Seven Lords, along with Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, wrote a letter to the Times expressing "concern [about] the decision to go ahead with the race".

It added: "We do not believe the time is right to return to Bahrain."

Archive Photo: National Guard arrest Wall Street Journal reporter March 16, 2011

February 7, 2012

LATimes- Bahrain has turned down several journalists for visas to visit the Persian Gulf nation on the one-year anniversary of sweeping antigovernment protests next Tuesday, telling them it has gotten too many requests.

The rejected journalists include New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who was detained in Bahrain while watching protests in December, along with correspondents for the BBC, the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor and other outlets.

by Joshua Hersh

02 Feb 2012- WASHINGTON -- With the first anniversary of the popular uprising, and subsequent suppression, in Bahrain fast approaching, a number of human rights organizations are asking a dreaded question: What happens if there's another crackdown, and not enough international organizations are there to witness it?

This unlikely circumstance has started to seem like a serious possibility in recent weeks, as the government of Bahrain -- amid its own internal investigation and repeated promises of reforms and accountability -- has stepped up its denial of visas to human rights oriented non-governmental organizations.

9 January 2012

A military court in Bahrain has sentenced a policeman to more than 12 years in jail for joining protests against the royal family last year.

Ali al-Ghanami, a 25-year-old junior police officer, had left his guard post and joined protesters on 17 February 2011 after security forces had cleared a major traffic circle in the capital Manama.

Bahraini protesters gather at Pearl Roundabout on February 19 / AP

An English instructor living in Manama saw a would-be revolution brutally repressed outside his window, so he tried to document it on video, and that's when his troubles started

Note: These are short excerpt from the story, read it in full here

We moved to another part of the car park, where I filmed the protesters hurrying away to their cars from the roundabout toward the direction of Dana Mall. The police were chasing them and still firing teargas. A few defiant protesters tried to stand their ground but were overcome by the fumes and eventually retreated. Soon the fumes wafted up to our position and our eyes began to sting, forcing us to return to our apartment.

Systematic, violent repression that killed a 14-year-old boy continues to torment his family

Ali AlShaikh- nytimes.com

December 17, 2011

WHEN President Obama decides soon whether to approve a $53 million arms sale to our close but despotic ally Bahrain, he must weigh the fact that America has a major naval base here and that Bahrain is a moderate, modernizing bulwark against Iran.

Yet he should also understand the systematic, violent repression here, the kind that apparently killed a 14-year-old boy, Ali al-Sheikh, and continues to torment his family.

On 09 Dec 2011, New York Times columnist Nick Kristof was detained by police while covering a protest in Bahrain on Friday. Kristof and his videographer, Adam Ellick, were held in two separate police cars as tear gas was fired on protesters. The two journalists were also tear gassed. The camera man Adam was roughly handled. His camera damaged.

Dec 4, 2011 3
(Reuters) - A military court in Bahrain has sentenced three sportsmen to one year in prison for taking part in pro-democracy protests that the Gulf Arab state crushed earlier this year, a lawyer said.

The three, all members of Bahrain's majority Shi'ite community, are bodybuilder Tareq al-Fursani, a gold medallist in several Asian championships, Ali Said, a goalkeeper in the national soccer team, and Mohammed Hassan al-Dirazi, a member of the national basketball team, said lawyer Mohsen al-Alawi, who was in court when the verdicts were read on Sunday.

3 Dec 2011
Pomed - As Bahrain’s Interior Ministry stated that Mr. John Timoney, the former Miami Police Chief, will lead training programs for Bahraini security forces, the Bahraini Youth Society for Human Rights expressed concern over the appointment due to Timoney’s past human rights violations. He is known for the mishandling of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) Protests in 2003. Tens of thousands of demonstrators were met with “police harassment, provocation, and brutality. More than 100 protesters were treated for injuries, 12 were hospitalized and an estimated 250 were arrested.”

Photo: Noor Alderazi - expelled student.

November 27, 2011

By David L. Wheeler
Two reports released last week sharply condemn Bahrain for attacks on academic freedom, including the dismissals of professors and students for participating in political demonstrations last spring.

Human-rights activists say that the reports need to be followed by action, and that one of the reports does not go far enough in its conclusions.