(AFP) – 18 Aug 2010

WASHINGTON — Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on Bahrain either to release or formally charge eight activists, including clerics, the groups said the Gulf kingdom has arrested.

"The Bahraini authorities must make it clear why these eight men have been arrested, and either release them or charge them with recognizable criminal offences," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme, said in a Wednesday statement.

MANAMA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Bahraini authorities have detained four more Shi'ite activists on security grounds, raising the stakes in the run-up to parliamentary elections after earlier arrests were criticised by rights groups.

The detentions bring to eight the number of activists and clerics arrested over the past week. The detainees include Mohammed Saeed, a board member of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights whose operations were formally suspended in 2004 but which continues to operate, Bahrain's state news agency said.

By Alexandra Sandels, Special to the Los Angeles Times

August 20, 2010

Reporting from Beirut —
Political tensions have risen in recent days in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain, where Shiite Muslim clerics and a prominent activist have been arrested as the island kingdom gears up for parliamentary elections in October.

Activists, mostly Shiites protesting government policies and the recent arrests, blocked roads near the capital Wednesday night, and set fires to trash cans.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: Aug 17, 2010 23:58 Updated: Aug 17, 2010 23:58

MANAMA, Bahrain: A Bahraini lawyer says security forces have detained six more opposition members in a crackdown on the Gulf kingdom's majority Shiites who complain of being disenfranchised.

Lawyer Mohammed Al-Tajir said Tuesday a total of 10 activists, including eight leading members of the opposition, have been detained since Saturday.

Al-Tajir said the detained have not been charged and their whereabouts are unknown.

By

* Staff

Published Sunday, August 15, 2010

The arrest of government critic Abdul Jalil Al Singace on Friday led to clashes in Bahrain.

This is his second arrest and it comes amid a renewed call by top leadership to punish 'instigators' or thsoe who 'stand in the way' of the country's development, reported the UAE daily Gulf News.

There were sporadic clashes in Shiite neighbourhoods in Bahrain and Al Singace's supporters gathered in front of the Public Prosecution offices demanding his release.

Manama: Bahraini leaders have pledged a zero-tolerance policy towards "instigators", saying that there would be "a strict application of the law against those who seek to stall the country's progress."

Praising the role of the army and the police, King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa said that laws would be applied without hesitation, particularly that there are ample possibilities in Bahrain for Bahrainis to express themselves freely and legally.

15 Aug 2010 10:55:58 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Bahrain arrests four Shi'ite opposition activists

* Clashes erupted following arrest of first activist

MANAMA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Bahraini authorities have detained four Shi'ite activists before a parliamentary poll in which Shi'ites will be seeking a bigger role in governing the Sunni Muslim-led Arab state, their lawyer said on Sunday.

To the left King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al- Khalifa, and to the right - Human Rights denfender Dr.Abdul Jalil Al-Singace

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 01:09:51 GMT
By : dpa

Manama, Bahrain - Bahraini authorities rearrested an outspoken critic of the government on Friday, amid a stern warning from the country's top leadership to "instigators" that their actions would no longer be tolerated.

Haq Movement for Civil Liberties and Democracy spokesman Abdul Jalil al-Singace was detained by the authorities at Bahrain International Airport early Friday morning upon his return from London.

Tue Aug 10, 2010 12:05am IST

By Erika Solomon and Frederik Richter

DUBAI/MANAMA (Reuters) - Political activists in Gulf states where the maker of BlackBerry faces possible bans say its messaging service boosted their ranks, and they are now on the hunt for new ways to evade authorities.

Report by Karen Dabrowska, in London (mathaba)

A reversion to torture and attempts to alter Bahrain's demographic balance were highlighted at a London seminar held at the beginning of August in the House of Lords.

The seminar, chaired by Baroness Falkner of Margravine of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliamentarians for the Liberal Democrats, marked the annual anniversary of the country's independence and the dissolution of the only legitimate parliamentary experience in 1975.