The international reactions to the 2011 Bahraini uprising include responses by supranational organisations, non-governmental organisations, media organisations, and both the governments and civil populaces, like of fellow sovereign states to the protests and uprising in Bahrain during the Arab Spring. The small island nation's territorial position in the Persian Gulf not only makes it a key contending regional power but also determines its geostrategic position as a buffer between the Arab World and Iran. Hence, the geostrategic implications aid in explaining international responses to the uprising in Bahrain. Accordingly, as a proxy state between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Bahrain's domestic politics is both wittingly and unavoidably shaped by regional forces and variables that determine the country's response to internal and external pressures.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Physicians for Human Rights condemned the use of excessive violence against peaceful demonstrators in Bahrain. [57] [58] [59] Amnesty International later released a report saying that Bahraini security forces had used live ammunition and "extreme force" on protesters without warning and that they had also impeded and assaulted medical staff who were trying to help the wounded. A medic, Hani Mowafi, who was a part of their team in Bahrain said that he "found a pattern of fatal and serious injuries during the violence in February 2011, showing that the security forces used live ammunition at close range, and apparently targeted protesters' heads, chests and abdomens. They also fired medium-to-large calibre bullets from high-powered rifles on 18 February." [60]
Physicians for Human Rights released a report in April 2011 titled Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients, that documented attacks against medical personnel, abuses of patients and detainees, and forensic evidence of torture. [61] The report detailed violations of medical neutrality including the abuse of physicians and patients at Salmaniya Medical Center, which was taken over by security forces on March 15, 2011. The report also described the Bahraini government's excessive use of force against civilians, including shotguns, high velocity weapons, and tear gas. PHR's report shows Bahrain's abuses in the spring of 2011 to be among the most extreme violations of medical neutrality in the past half century. [61] Physicians for Human Rights, along with other human rights groups, pushed for a cancellation of a sale of arms from the United States to Bahrain due to its record of human rights violations. [62]
Avaaz.org has called for sports boycotts, comparing the situation in Bahrain with that of apartheid South Africa. [63] [64]
Organisations in Iran launched an aid flotilla to draw attention to the "oppression" in Bahrain. [65] [66]
International Committee of the Red Cross Director-General Yves Daccord said on 10 August 2011 that his organisation was monitoring events in Bahrain and was "extremely concerned". Daccord added, "We are doing our utmost to ensure we have access not only to hospitals but to detention centres." [67]
October 2015, Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has issued a press release [68] calling Bahrain's authorities to allow freedom of speech and to free the dissidents. The monitor said that Bahrain authorities should immediately release opposition activists who have been detained for speaking out against government oppression. The monitor accused Bahrain authorities of continuing the arbitrarily punishment without due process. The monitor has documented 21 cases in which peaceful demonstrations were violently broken up by shooting live ammunition and tear gas canisters. In addition, the monitor said that 86 protesters have been detained, of whom 17 are minors, the detainees have tortured and denied a fair trial. The Euro-Med Monitor called Bahraini authorities to take more serious and committed actions to protect human rights on their territory, starting with the immediate release of the detainees, easing of restrictions on peaceful protests and permission for specialists in torture and forced disappearance to investigate conditions in Bahraini prisons.
At least 13 human rights reports were issued by 18 different parties: Amnesty International, International Crisis Group, Doctors Without Borders, Physicians for Human Rights, Human Rights First, Independent Irish figures, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Without Frontiers, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, Bahrain Human Rights Society, Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Front Line Defenders, Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Index on Censorship, International Media Support and the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International.
Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera stated that Bahrain is considered to be the country most vulnerable to unrest amongst Arab States of the Persian Gulf. [77]
In a column dated 14 June 2011 for The Independent veteran British Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk lashed out at Bahraini and Saudi authorities over the treatment of protests and the trial of 48 medical staff on conspiracy charges. He also claimed that the Bahraini government did not invite Saudi Arabia to send troops into what he suggested should be called "Occupied Bahrain" and said the archipelago is de facto under Saudi administration, with the government supposedly complying with orders from Riyadh only to keep up appearances and save face. [78] The Bahraini government attempted to sue Robert Fisk, but they had to withdraw their action as individuals cannot be sued for comments relating to a country under English Common Law. Fisk was however successfully sued by the Interior Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on 4 August for writing a libellous piece soon after the Bahrain article on the Saudi response to protests. [79]
Human rights protesters called for a boycott of the 2011 edition of the Bahrain Grand Prix with explicit comparisons to the sporting boycott of South Africa. [80] [81]
On 17 February 2011, it was announced that the second round of GP2 Asia Series, which was to be held at Bahrain International Circuit on 17–19 February, had been cancelled due to security and safety concerns surrounding the protests. [82] On 21 February, the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, then due to take place on 13 March, was again cancelled because of the same concerns. [83]
On 23 June 2011, Bahrain football federation face a membership freezing on FIFA regarding the interface of politics in football matters. FIFA asked for information of detained and sentenced footballers.[ citation needed ]
Despite political pressure on Bernie Eccelstone, the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix was scheduled. [84] Force India pulled out of the second practice session, fearing for its safety after a firebomb struck a car used by mechanics from the team. [85]
Qatar-based Egyptian Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi called for the removal of the "roots of oppression" against the Shia majority and for them "to be real citizens of their country." He also criticised the protesters for what he saw as their religious sectarian nature, making reference to reports that the protesters were carrying pictures of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hezbollah's Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. [86] He said that the protests were not supported by Sunnis in Bahrain and was thus "invalid." He talked of his friendship with the ruling Al Khalifa family and "praised" King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa claiming that "the Shiites attacked Sunnis, and took over their mosques, and used weapons just like the hooligans we saw in Yemen and Egypt". [87]
While some Shia clerics, such as Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for the protestors to show restraint, [88] Iranian and Iran-backed clerics have encouraged opposition groups to continue their resistance against the regime. [89] Hossein Vahid Khorasani said all Muslims should support the Bahraini protesters. "The oppression that is now in Bahrain...not only Shi'ah [ sic ] and Muslims of Bahrain...in this insurgence by foreign countries over a shelter less [ sic ] nation...this does not lead to any rest for Muslims...this tragedy is impossible to tell." [90]
Regional financial stock-market indices fell on 20 February 2011 on concern of spreading instability. [91] The stock market continued to fall as protestors blocked the route into the Bahrain Financial Harbour, the country's main financial hub, prohibiting the growth of the economy and ensuring that those not involved in the protests, including expatriates, were unable to return to work. As a result, the national economy was described as the 'biggest loser' from the escalation of tensions. [92] An opposition activist decried the damage done to the economy, saying that the blockade was done by "a small group and it's not popular". [92]
On 3 February, the British embassy stated that it was aware of plans for protests on 14 February but did not advise British citizens to "take any special steps" beyond its standard advice that included a request to "maintain a high level of security awareness" and to "avoid large gatherings, crowds and demonstrations, as a number of them have turned violent." [93] Following expanded protests and violence, the embassy was then closed "until further notice" and a warning against travel to Bahrain was issued. [10] On 17 March, British citizens were advised to leave Bahrain as the government sent charter planes to evacuate its citizens. The British Foreign Office also urged its citizens to buy tickets on commercial flights to leave the country if possible. [6]
Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro, Indian information-technology companies, withdrew their staffs from Bahrain following the three-month, state-of-emergency declaration. [94]
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
Abdulhadi Abdulla Hubail al-Khawaja is a Bahraini political activist. On 22 June 2011, al-Khawaja and eight others were sentenced to life imprisonment following the suppression of pro-democracy protests against the Bahraini government. Al-Khawaja has previously gone on a series of hunger strikes while serving his life sentence, in protest of the political conditions in Bahrain.
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island which makes up around 83 percent of the country's landmass. Bahrain is situated between Qatar and the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia, to which it is connected by the King Fahd Causeway. The population of Bahrain is 1,501,635 as of May 14, 2023, based on elaborations of the United Nations data, of whom 712,362 are Bahraini nationals. Bahrain spans some 760 square kilometres (290 sq mi), and is the third-smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore. The capital and largest city is Manama.
The Peninsula Shield Force is the military arm of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is intended to deter, and respond to military aggression against any of the GCC member countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
The 2011Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and protests in Tunisia and Egypt and escalated to daily clashes after the Bahraini government repressed the revolt with the support of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Peninsula Shield Force. The Bahraini protests were a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of non-violent civil disobedience and some violent resistance in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. As part of the revolutionary wave of protests in the Middle East and North Africa following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the Bahraini protests were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and equality for the 70% Shia population.
The international reactions to the Arab Spring have been disparate, including calls for expanded liberties and civil rights in many authoritarian countries of the Middle East and North Africa in late 2010 and 2011.
Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Ahmed Qassim is Bahrain's leading Shia cleric and a politician. He is the spiritual leader of Al Wefaq, Bahrain's biggest opposition society. He is the founder and leader of the Islamic Enlightenment Institution.
International reactions to the Yemeni revolution were not as pronounced as reactions to similar events during the Arab Spring, but a number of governments and organisations made statements on Yemen before and after the departure of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power in February 2012.
Ali Jawad al-Sheikh was a 14-year-old Bahraini who died in the hospital on 31 August 2011 after reportedly being hit in the head by a tear gas canister shot by Bahraini security forces during the Bahraini uprising. The Bahraini government denied security force involvement in his death and offered a reward for information on the incident. Activists, however, began a series of large protests after his funeral.
The Human Price of Freedom and Justice is a joint report by a group of Bahrain's independent human rights NGOs presenting the main key findings from the ongoing effort to document violations occurring in the state of Bahrain during the Bahraini uprising (2011–present). The 87-page report gives background to the situation, then identifies and document all the types of violations that took place, with the aim of putting out recommendations to the Bahraini government, as well as the EU, US, UN OHCHR and the ICC. The report was published on 22 November 2011, 1 day before the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report was published. The report has found that the violations have been widespread and systematic. Finally, the report urged the U.N. to "send an urgent mission to Bahrain to investigate the deaths of at least 4 protesters killed since BICI closed its doors."
Many human rights reports were published about the Bahraini uprising of 2011, a campaign of protests, and civil disobedience in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain that is considered part of the revolutionary wave of protests dubbed the Arab Spring. At least 14 human rights reports were issued by 18 different parties: Amnesty International, International Crisis Group, Doctors Without Borders, Physicians for Human Rights, Human Rights First, Independent Irish figures, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Without Frontiers, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, Bahrain Human Rights Society, Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Front Line Defenders, Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Index on Censorship, International Media Support and the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International.
Relations exist between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Relations between the two are close and friendly.
The following is a timeline of events that followed the Bahraini uprising of 2011 from April to June 2011. This phase included continued crackdown, lifting of the state of emergency and return of large protests.
The following is a timeline of the Bahraini uprising from February to March 2011, beginning with the start of protests in February 2011 and including the Saudi and Emirati-backed crackdown from 15 March.
The Day of Rage is the name given by protesters in Bahrain to 14 February 2011, the first day of the national uprising as part of the Arab Spring. Inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and in Tunisia, Bahraini youth organised protests using social-media websites. They appealed to the Bahraini people "to take to the streets on Monday 14 February in a peaceful and orderly manner". The day had a symbolic value, being the ninth and tenth anniversaries of the country's 2002 constitution and the National Action Charter respectively.
The March of loyalty to martyrs was a protest on 22 February 2011 in Manama, Bahrain. Tens of thousands participated in the protest, one of the largest in the Bahraini uprising. Named after the seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests, the march filled the space between Bahrain mall and Pearl Roundabout. Protesters carried Bahrain's flag and demanded the fall of the government, implementation of a constitutional monarchy and other reforms, with some of them also demanding the end of the regime.
The background of the Bahraini uprising dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century. The Bahraini people have protested sporadically throughout the last decades demanding social, economic and political rights. Demonstrations were present as early as the 1920s and the first municipal election was held in 1926. Ruled by Al Khalifas since 1783, Bahrain was a British protectorate for most of the twentieth century. The National Union Committee (NUC) formed in 1954 was the earliest serious challenge to the status quo. Two year after its formation, NUC leaders were imprisoned and deported by authorities.
The Saudi–led intervention in Bahrain began on 14 March 2011 to assist the Bahraini government in suppressing an anti-government uprising in the country. The intervention came three weeks after the U.S. pressured Bahrain to withdraw its military forces from the streets. As a decision by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the intervention included sending 1,000 (1,200) troops with vehicles from Saudi Arabia at the invitation of the Al-Khalifa ruling family, marking the first time the GCC used such a collective military option for suppressing a revolt.
Bilateral relations exist between the countries of Bahrain and Iran. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, relations between the two countries have been strained over various geopolitical issues such as the interpretations of Islam, Awakening of the Islamic world, and relations with the United States, Europe, and other Western countries. In addition, Iran has been severely critical of Bahrain for hosting the United States Fifth Fleet within the Persian Gulf at the Naval Support Activity Bahrain base.
Saudi Arabia–Qatar relations refers to the current and historical relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar. Prior to 2017, the two countries maintained cordial ties. Qatar was mainly subservient to Saudi Arabia in matters relating to foreign policy. Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani's assumption of power saw Qatar reclaim its sovereignty in foreign affairs, often diverging from Saudi Arabia on many geopolitical issues. In 1996, the Qatari government launched Al Jazeera in a bid to consolidate soft power. One of the most watched news stations in the Arab world, Al Jazeera proved to be a wedge in the two's bilateral relations as it routinely criticized Saudi Arabia's ruler. The network also provided a platform for Islamist groups which are considered a threat to Saudi Arabia's monarchy.