A human rights monitoring group says Bahraini regime forces stormed more than 59 houses and arrested 42 activists across the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom in June as the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty does not shy away from its heavy-handed clampdown on political dissidents and pro-democracy campaigners.
The Rasad Bahrain group said the raids were carried out in the villages of Buri, al-Dair, Samaheej, Barbar, Diraz, al-Daih, Karrana, Sanabis, Sitra Island, Juffair, Ma’ameer, Nuwaidrat, Abu Saiba, Shakhura, Saar, Nabih Saleh, A’ali, Shahrakan, Bani Jamra, Karzakan, Eker and Malkiya.
It added that regime forces also set up checkpoints in numerous areas and on streets as part of Al Khalifah’s continued crackdown on people.
Meanwhile, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) has revealed that authorities at the notorious Jaw prison have prevented some 80 political inmates from contacting their families.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.
Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.
On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.
Bahraini monarch King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3 last year.
