Weapons Sales to Bahrain – Examples of Injury

BAHRAIN
Small arms – Austria (€28,709), Belgium (€5,643,483), Finland (€13,500), France (€1,254,772), Germany (€87,862), Switzerland (SFr292,804), the UK (£1,065,795)6 and the USA ($929,904) all authorised the transfer of small arms to Bahrain, including assault rifles, sniper rifles, semi automatic and non-automatic firearms, and shotguns.

Smooth-bore weapons over 20mm – Austria (€384,000), France (€1,628,630), Italy (€6,796,430)7, and the UK (£1,458,000) authorised the sale of equipment under the category of smooth bore weapons over 20mm that covers grenade launchers, riot guns used for firing tear gas and other projectiles, or machine guns, for example. The problem is governments usually do not report on exactly what equipment was sold under the reporting categories in their annual reports on arms exports and despite asking for clarification on what was sold no further information has been obtained to indicate the type of weaponry allowed.

EXAMPLES OF DEADLY FORCE
Riot police and soldiers fatally wounded seven people between 14 and 18 February. Security forces used live ammunition, sometimes at close range, fired medium-to-large calibre bullets from high-powered rifles, and apparently targeted people’s heads, chests and abdomens. ‘Ali ‘Abdulhadi Mushaima’, aged 21, suffered multiple gunshot wounds from being shot by the riot police while at a demonstration on 14 February in al-Daih village, east of Manama. He died soon after in hospital. ‘Isa ‘Abdulhassan, aged 60, died instantaneously from a massive head wound caused by a shot fired probably from less than 2m away. Mahmood Maki ‘Ali, aged 23, and ‘Ali Mansoor Ahmed Khudair, aged 52, were shot dead from within 7m. ‘Ali Ahmed ‘Abdullah ‘Ali al-Mo’men, aged 23, died in hospital of multiple gunshot wounds. ‘Abdul Redha Mohammed Hassan, aged 20, died in hospital after also being shot in the head from close range.

full report HERE