Bahrain forces attack anti-regime demonstrators

Al Khalifa regime forces have attacked a protest near the Bahraini capital, Manama, clashing with the demonstrators.

The anti-regime protesters took to the streets of Sitra, located about 12 kilometers (seven miles) southeast of Manama, when the demonstration came under attack by regime forces who sought to disperse the people.

There have been no reports on casualties and arrests yet.

The protesters called for more rallies, saying that their demands for reforms and the release of all political prisoners should be met.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations on an almost daily basis in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in the ongoing heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful rallies.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have repeatedly censured the Bahraini regime for its abuses against opposition activists and anti-government protesters.

Back in November, Human Rights Watch censured Al Khalifa for “mistreatment and torture” of detainees during interrogations.

The rights group said in a report that the techniques employed by the Bahraini regime violate its “obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture) and other international treaties, and contravene the prohibition of torture in Bahrain’s constitution and its penal code.”