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Bahrain sets activist’s home on fire

Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) says Saudi-backed forces have attacked the residence of a human rights activist and set it ablaze amid a strict martial law in the tiny Persian Gulf monarchy.

Video footage has surfaced online showing flames coming from the burning house of Saeed Ayyad after Bahraini forces attacked his home on Friday, using “teargas which carried flames.”

According to the BCHR, Ayyad is an activist that has been taking international visitors around to talk to witnesses and victims and document human rights violations in Bahrain.

The group said it had reasons to believe that his house was targeted due to his activities.

Meanwhile, BCHR has warned of further tortures and persecutions by the Manama regime amid tight security conditions imposed by the ruling Al Khalifa family to choke the protests in the small island nation.

In its latest report, BCHR said that prominent activist Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja, a Danish citizen, has been tortured beyond recognition by Saudi-backed regime forces.

The group has posted a graphic description of tortures al-Khawaja suffered on its website, warning that all anti-government protesters arrested by the regime remain at “very high risk of torture” or death.

More than 1,000 people, including protesters, rights activists, former lawmakers, senior clerics and medics have been detained in Bahrain during the past three months. BCHR says scores of women are among the detainees.

At least 47 Bahraini doctors and nurses are scheduled to stand trial in a military court for treating those injured during the country’s anti-government protests.

Recently, four demonstrators were sentenced to death by a military court for the purported killing of two police officers during street protests.

The United Sates and the European Union have recently voiced concern over the death sentences, calling on Manama to respect the detainees’ rights.

However, both the US and the EU have fallen short of condemning the gross human rights violations in Bahrain.

People in Bahrain have been protesting since February 14, demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa dynasty.

On March 14, Bahraini forces were joined by troops from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait in a massive armed crackdown on the popular protests.

Since then, scores of protesters, including children, have been killed and many others gone missing.

Saudi-backed Bahraini regime forces have also raided dozens of mosques, schools, sacred sites and even graves in their efforts to suppress all opposition moves.

Despite the heavy-handed tactics used against demonstrators, protesters say that they will hold their ground until their demands for freedom, constitutional monarchy as well as a proportional voice in the government are met.

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