Violence is escalating in Bahrain, with clashes between protesters and the military.
After aggressively taking the Pearl Roundabout, a traffic circle which had been being used by the protesters as a rallying point, the military also took over hospitals, which they viewed as being hot-spots for the dissenters. There were reports coming in on Wednesday of medics and doctors being beaten for attempting to help the wounded in the streets. Today, however, there are reports that the military is allowing doctors in and out of the hospitals.
Said Ms Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, "There are reports of arbitrary arrests, killings, beatings of protesters and of medical personnel, and the takeover of hospitals and medical centres by various security forces... This is shocking and illegal conduct."
(source: BBC World News)
The protesters primarily come from the Shia majority who are upset about the disparity in power between them and the ruling Sunnis. King Hamad has been in power since 1999. he rules a kingdom of 800,000 individuals. The median population age is 30.4 years, meaning that there is quite a large youth population. Unemployment among this youth is estimated at 19.6%.
The streets of Manama are quiet yet tense after yesterday's violence. Soldiers patrol the streets, enforcing a curfew. There are reports that police, interior ministry agents, and riot police are attempting to disperse smaller protests in outlying villages. Some roads to these villages were blocked by military vehicles, but in Manama, citizens are apparently erecting barricades in an attempt to keep the soldiers out of their neighborhoods.
On Tuesday, King Hamad declared a state of emergency in response to the month long protests and called in Saudi troops to establish order.
This repression has inflamed the people of predominately Shia Lebanon and Iran, where many demonstrated in sympathy.
After aggressively taking the Pearl Roundabout, a traffic circle which had been being used by the protesters as a rallying point, the military also took over hospitals, which they viewed as being hot-spots for the dissenters. There were reports coming in on Wednesday of medics and doctors being beaten for attempting to help the wounded in the streets. Today, however, there are reports that the military is allowing doctors in and out of the hospitals.
Said Ms Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, "There are reports of arbitrary arrests, killings, beatings of protesters and of medical personnel, and the takeover of hospitals and medical centres by various security forces... This is shocking and illegal conduct."
(source: BBC World News)
The protesters primarily come from the Shia majority who are upset about the disparity in power between them and the ruling Sunnis. King Hamad has been in power since 1999. he rules a kingdom of 800,000 individuals. The median population age is 30.4 years, meaning that there is quite a large youth population. Unemployment among this youth is estimated at 19.6%.
The streets of Manama are quiet yet tense after yesterday's violence. Soldiers patrol the streets, enforcing a curfew. There are reports that police, interior ministry agents, and riot police are attempting to disperse smaller protests in outlying villages. Some roads to these villages were blocked by military vehicles, but in Manama, citizens are apparently erecting barricades in an attempt to keep the soldiers out of their neighborhoods.
On Tuesday, King Hamad declared a state of emergency in response to the month long protests and called in Saudi troops to establish order.
This repression has inflamed the people of predominately Shia Lebanon and Iran, where many demonstrated in sympathy.
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