Bahraini police arrest 22 protesters

Bahrain has arrested more than 22 people since February for participation in demonstrations against the Al Khalifa regime, police say.

The police made the announcement in a statement issued on Saturday. The statement added that search was still under way for more protesters.

Bahrain’s main opposition group, al-Wefaq, said on Saturday that 14 people had been detained during police raids on April 25 and 26.

Meanwhile, people held an anti-regime demonstration in the village of Diraz, west of the capital, Manama, on Saturday. The protesters shouted slogans against the Al Khalifa regime.

In recent weeks, anti-regime protests have increased in Bahrain as Manama hosted the controversial Formula One Grand Prix auto race.

On April 25, Bahrainis staged demonstrations to protest the detention of female activists who were arrested in connection to rallies against the Formula One event.

The Bahraini uprising began in mid-February 2011, when the people started holding massive demonstrations against the Al Khalifa regime, which promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring states to help quash the revolt.

Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds including doctors and nurses.

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture said on April 24 that he was deeply disappointed over a move by Manama to practically cancel his planned visit to Bahrain.

“This was a unilateral decision by the authorities. Unfortunately, it is not the first time the government has tried to avoid responsibility for the postponement of my visit, which was originally supposed to take place over a year ago,” Juan Mendez stated.

Amnesty International also condemned the move, saying the Manama regime was clearly “not serious” about implementing human rights reforms.