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Bahrainis demand release of women arrested at anti-F1 protests

Bahrainis
Bahrainis have staged demonstrations to protest the detention of female activists as Manama faces growing criticism over the human rights situation in the kingdom.
Angry protesters took to the streets of Manama on Thursday, rallied near the Bahraini Interior Ministry and burned one of the ministry’s vehicles.

They were calling for the release of two female inmates who were arrested during demonstrations against the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix, and later charged with concealing terrorist bombings.

Bahrainis have held several anti-F1 rallies over the past few weeks, stressing that “as long as there are oppression, arrests and killings, there should not be a Formula One.”

Bahrain pays an estimated $40 million a year to host the auto race -the kingdom’s premier international event. It was cancelled in 2011 as a result of mass anti-regime demonstrations, but in 2012 it went ahead despite protests.

On Wednesday, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture expressed deep disappointment over a move by the Manama regime 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.

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

The Bahraini uprising began in mid-February 2011, when the people started holding massive demonstrations against the Western-backed Al Khalifa ruling family.

The Bahraini regime 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 of others, including doctors and nurses accused of curing injured protesters.

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