The befuddling lack of US interest, inaction and commentary, while Obama’s “friends”, the al Khalifa regime, goes on Human Rights abuse rampage

Baby’s death, arrest of al-Khawaja threaten government’s commitment to reform
21 December 2011 – IFEX

The arrest of international cause célèbre “Angry Arabiya” and the death of a five-day-old girl as a result of a tear gas attack have become the latest events threatening to overshadow Bahrain’s promises of reform following a highly critical report into the pro-democracy protests earlier this year, say the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Index on Censorship and other IFEX members.

Zaynab al-Khawaja, the daughter of jailed rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and widely known by her Twitter name @angryarabiya, was violently arrested after refusing to leave a roundabout in Budaya Highway, a strategic road connecting the suburbs to the capital, after a 15 December sit-in, report BCHR, Index, ANHRI, Freedom House and the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International. She was released on bail on 20 December pending trial. She faces up to two years in jail, says BCHR.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters had participated in the sit-in before being dispersed by riot police with tear gas and stun grenades, the members say.

Several people were injured because of excessive force, and one protester was allegedly killed when he was hit by a police car, reports BCHR. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has denied police were responsible for the death, which has set off a string of protests that have been violently put down by police.

Recent protests, small or large, have been dealt with in much the same way. Security forces continue to fire excessive amounts of tear gas in residential areas, says BCHR (see http://yfrog.com/od8xblij and http://yfrog.com/mgpzaphj ). BCHR head Nabeel Rajab’s house was also tear gassed while his children were inside. He was not even in the country. …more