:00:04. > :00:14.Now an exclusive report from Bahrain, where the country is
:00:14. > :00:24.
:00:24. > :00:29.When I hear that women are being All you have to do to get attacked
:00:29. > :00:39.with tear gas in Bahrain is to call for freedom. They are trying to
:00:39. > :00:41.
:00:41. > :00:49.Bahrain - the Arab Spring's forgotten uprising. Nightly clashes
:00:49. > :00:56.in this tiny kingdom. Majority Shia Muslims are demanding reforms in a
:00:56. > :01:06.country ruled by a Sunni king. This is happening almost every
:01:06. > :01:07.
:01:07. > :01:17.Growing sectarian tensions here have the potential to plunge the
:01:17. > :01:49.
:01:49. > :01:52.country and the regions into Bahrain is the forgotten story of
:01:52. > :01:56.the Arab revolutions. I have been covering the kingdom on and off for
:01:56. > :02:03.more than five years. Each time I return, the split between Sunni and
:02:03. > :02:06.Shia grows wider and more dangerous. This time, we were one of just a
:02:06. > :02:12.handful of Western journalists allowed into a country that used to
:02:12. > :02:15.be known for its openness. As you drive through the wealthy heart of
:02:15. > :02:25.the capital Manama, there are few signs of the unrest threatening to
:02:25. > :02:26.
:02:26. > :02:29.One year ago, the Arab Spring reached Bahrain. Activists inspired
:02:29. > :02:39.by uprisings across the region took over Pearl Roundabout in the
:02:39. > :02:39.
:02:39. > :02:42.capital. Within days, there was a bloody response. Pearl Roundabout
:02:42. > :02:46.was cleared but the protesters returned. Under pressure to end the
:02:46. > :02:53.occupation, King Hamad invited in Saudi troops and a brutal crackdown
:02:53. > :03:02.ensued. The US with his Fifth Fleet stationed in the country, convinced
:03:02. > :03:05.the king to end the crackdown. A human rights investigation led by
:03:05. > :03:08.Professor Sherif Basyouni issued a report in November that catalogues
:03:08. > :03:18.systematic oppression, use of force and the sacking of huge numbers of
:03:18. > :03:27.
:03:27. > :03:37.public workers, the majority of This is why the government is keen
:03:37. > :03:38.
:03:38. > :03:48.Formula One racing is massive here. Because of the unrest, last year's
:03:48. > :03:48.
:03:49. > :03:56.race was cancelled. 29 Shia Formula One workers were arbitrarily fired.
:03:56. > :04:03.This man is chairman of the company that runs F1 here. The organisation
:04:04. > :04:06.says mistakes were made but it is time for the country to move on.
:04:06. > :04:13.The charges against these employees were dropped and His Majesty
:04:13. > :04:21.ordered for them to be rehired. We welcomed them back with open arms
:04:21. > :04:27.and they are back with us now. cancellation of last year's race
:04:27. > :04:34.was because of security concerns. F1 boss Bernie Eccleston has said
:04:34. > :04:37.that he sees no reason for the race not to go ahead this year. But what
:04:37. > :04:40.is only just emerging are allegations that most of the people
:04:41. > :04:44.who were sacked here were subject to sectarian abuse and beatings at
:04:44. > :04:52.the time of their arrest. It is a charge that the Bahrain
:04:52. > :04:56.International Circuit denies. think what happened one year ago,
:04:56. > :05:03.some of it was the mistake of the government and some of it was the
:05:03. > :05:06.mistake of the opposition. I think that His Majesty has been very
:05:06. > :05:15.courageous and forward-looking by engaging with the investigation and
:05:15. > :05:18.graciously accepting this report. I am yet to see a clear declaration
:05:18. > :05:26.from the opposition or of the parties who were involved in those
:05:26. > :05:30.events to say that they have made any mistakes. The trade union
:05:30. > :05:39.movement protested outside the Ministry of Labour. They dispute
:05:39. > :05:47.the account given by the Formula One chiefs. They say that five
:05:47. > :05:55.sacked workers have not been rehired. More than 3,000 workers in
:05:55. > :06:00.the public and private sectors lost their jobs. We still have more than
:06:00. > :06:03.1,000 workers dismissed and suspended and sacked. All workers
:06:03. > :06:13.in private and public sectors should be reinstated instantly,
:06:13. > :06:22.
:06:22. > :06:30.When security forces attacked the occupiers of Pearl Roundabout last
:06:30. > :06:33.year, doctors went to help. colleagues and I volunteered to set
:06:33. > :06:43.up a medical tent to help protesters and the people in
:06:43. > :06:50.
:06:50. > :06:53.general. As the uprising continued, many doctors joined the protest.
:06:53. > :07:00.Whoever helped participate or volunteer at the medical tent was
:07:00. > :07:07.punished. Brutally punished. Last March when the uprising was crushed,
:07:07. > :07:13.the government began to round them up as well, including Dr Nada Dhaif.
:07:13. > :07:17.I went to sleep on the 18th. At three o'clock in the morning, the
:07:17. > :07:27.door opened and more than two dozen masked men, fully armed men, raided
:07:27. > :07:28.
:07:28. > :07:30.my house and they took me directly from my bedroom. She was tortured
:07:31. > :07:38.and forced into signing a confession, convicted before a
:07:38. > :07:43.military tribunal and given a lengthy jail term. I was beaten
:07:43. > :07:53.immediately after the arrest. The abuse started immediately. Verbal
:07:53. > :08:00.abuse. They cursed me, my family, my religion. They use every dirty
:08:00. > :08:10.word that you could imagine. And the physical abuse... I was beaten
:08:10. > :08:12.
:08:12. > :08:16.on my head, shoulders, neck, back. I was kicked. I was spat at several
:08:16. > :08:24.times. I was electrocuted in one session in order to get the
:08:24. > :08:34.confession. The psychological and mental torment... I was kept in
:08:34. > :08:38.solitary confinement for 22 days. She is out on appeal. The report
:08:38. > :08:43.documented 60 cases of torture in detention. The government has not
:08:43. > :08:45.challenged that figure. Instead, they have promised reform. We are
:08:45. > :08:49.willing to bring forward any investigation to find the people
:08:49. > :08:59.who not only did these acts of torture but also who tolerated
:08:59. > :09:02.
:09:02. > :09:06.these acts of torture. There is no state policy on this. I would like
:09:06. > :09:16.to say that nobody in this country would agree with such abhorrent
:09:16. > :09:19.
:09:19. > :09:23.acts that were committed. report was a damning indictment of
:09:23. > :09:28.the country's security forces but the police were anxious to give us
:09:28. > :09:35.their side of the story. We were invited along for a ride with an
:09:35. > :09:44.elite unit. Every night, units like this are coming under fire from
:09:44. > :09:49.protesters. We warn them three times and after the warning, we
:09:49. > :09:53.tell them to go, that this is illegal, it is not allowed. After
:09:53. > :10:03.that, they do not listen to us and they start throwing Molotov
:10:03. > :10:15.
:10:15. > :10:20.There has been a detailed excessive use of force in the streets. And
:10:20. > :10:24.torture in detention. The king accepted the report and promised
:10:24. > :10:29.change. However, in the months since it was released, critics say
:10:29. > :10:36.police have continued to behave with impunity. Five police officers
:10:36. > :10:39.and more than 50 civilians have died since the uprising began.
:10:39. > :10:49.Human rights organisations have attributed 12 of those deaths to
:10:49. > :10:52.
:10:53. > :10:59.heavy and inappropriate use of tear-gas. How can we beat them? We
:10:59. > :11:04.just have our shield. There was the gas. That's it. This is everything
:11:04. > :11:14.we have here. For this woman, she tells a
:11:14. > :11:14.
:11:14. > :11:17.different story. All the house was full of gas.
:11:17. > :11:27.She says her mother died after police used tear-gas.
:11:27. > :11:29.
:11:29. > :11:33.She was here. She was lying here. We tried to cover this area and
:11:33. > :11:37.this area so that no other smoke came inside. But no use. She had
:11:37. > :11:40.already passed away. The police told me if it happened
:11:40. > :11:43.it was an accident. They would not deliberately fire tear gas into a
:11:43. > :11:53.house. But incidents like this have scarred relationships between
:11:53. > :11:56.
:11:56. > :12:00.police and the people. I've been brought here by the
:12:00. > :12:03.government to advice. There are many areas for police reform.
:12:03. > :12:09.In a surprise career move, the former chief of Scotland Yard moved
:12:09. > :12:12.to Bahrain in January. They have made excellent progress
:12:12. > :12:22.in things like the removal of certain officers, but other things
:12:22. > :12:23.
:12:23. > :12:26.will take time. You cannot expect massive reform in a matter of weeks.
:12:26. > :12:29.Human rights training for thousands of police officers is an immense
:12:29. > :12:34.undertaking. I have spoken to people who have
:12:34. > :12:40.told me that they were taken. This has happened in the last couple of
:12:40. > :12:42.the weeks. They were picked up and taken to unofficial sites or areas
:12:42. > :12:46.that have not been officially recognised as police stations,
:12:46. > :12:56.beaten, tortured they say, and I can tell you the areas. There is a
:12:56. > :13:01.
:13:01. > :13:06.youth hostel, a racing track. This is happening. These are issues now.
:13:06. > :13:15.You are bringing up these things now. They have happened. There is a
:13:15. > :13:23.proper procedure where people need to make their complaints. It will
:13:23. > :13:29.be addressed and investigated. There is, however, an awful lot of
:13:29. > :13:32.mischief on these social media websites. There is talk of reform.
:13:32. > :13:42.But is it too late? Are sectarian divisions in danger of escalating,
:13:42. > :13:50.
:13:51. > :13:59.destabilising the entire region? A holiday to mark the birth of the
:13:59. > :14:07.Prophet Muhammad. The Shia are celebrating, and mark it on a
:14:07. > :14:12.different day from the Sunnis. Differences like these used to not
:14:13. > :14:22.matter in Bahrain but they do now. These implications go well beyond
:14:23. > :14:30.
:14:30. > :14:33.this tiny group of islands. Across the Gulf, Shia Iran. To the
:14:33. > :14:42.west, Saudi Arabia, where the rulers have their own sectarian
:14:42. > :14:46.problems. Fearful of Iran, the Saudis exert a strong influence
:14:46. > :14:53.over the Bahrain royal family and they have made it clear they will
:14:53. > :14:56.not tolerate any concessions to the Shia in Bahrain.
:14:56. > :15:06.Freedom Square, a plot of ground where anti-government protesters
:15:06. > :15:12.
:15:12. > :15:20.gather. They are calling for the king to step down. As this conflict
:15:20. > :15:23.deepens, the young Shia are growing more radical. The leaders of the
:15:23. > :15:29.largest Shia opposition party urge restraint but many wonder if they
:15:29. > :15:37.can contain the anger. We are ready to go to die at any
:15:37. > :15:45.time. Any time. We will not find a real solution for this country
:15:45. > :15:48.where there is this political situation. We need to solve this.
:15:48. > :15:58.Are you not calling for a regime change?
:15:58. > :16:03.
:16:03. > :16:08.No. We are calling for a constitution. A real constitutional
:16:08. > :16:11.monarchy. We can keep the royal family but we want a system where
:16:11. > :16:21.the Prime Minister is elected. This is what we believe is good for
:16:21. > :16:23.
:16:23. > :16:27.Bahrain. To really understand the depth of
:16:27. > :16:30.Shia anger, you need to leave the towers of the capital behind and
:16:30. > :16:40.head into the villages along the main highways that run from the
:16:40. > :16:52.
:16:53. > :16:59.capital. Communities like this one. It is known amongst activists as
:16:59. > :17:02.the Isle of Martyrs. Many people have died since the uprising last
:17:02. > :17:06.February and many have come here. To understand the divisions that
:17:06. > :17:09.exist in this country, you come to a place like this. It is a poor
:17:09. > :17:12.Shia community where the streets are covered in rubbish and the
:17:12. > :17:22.walls are plastered with anti- government slogans. This one says,
:17:22. > :17:23.
:17:23. > :17:29.'Down, down with King Hamad'. Impoverished Shia communities sit
:17:29. > :17:36.next to factories. Some of the harshest crackdowns in the uprising
:17:36. > :17:38.happened here. One of the things I have notice is
:17:38. > :17:41.that they are targeting children more.
:17:41. > :17:46.This woman's father was jailed for life for allegedly plotting to
:17:46. > :17:49.overthrow the government. She is a leading human rights campaigner and
:17:49. > :17:53.rejects the idea that the opposition is responsible for
:17:53. > :17:56.sectarian tension. The government is trying to divide
:17:56. > :18:01.and conquer. The revolution is not a sectarian one. It is demanding
:18:01. > :18:11.democracy and freedom for everybody. The government is saying, talk with
:18:11. > :18:14.
:18:14. > :18:18.us. Why not? We have done that before. In 2001,
:18:18. > :18:23.we had a dialogue. But with these dictators, every time they make
:18:23. > :18:26.promises they break them. During Friday prayers the most
:18:26. > :18:35.senior Shia cleric calls for peaceful protest, but his sermons
:18:35. > :18:45.are ratcheting up the tensions. With our souls and blood, they
:18:45. > :18:53.
:18:53. > :19:03.chant, we will sacrifice for you. Outside the mosque, I asked about
:19:03. > :19:05.
:19:05. > :19:09.the thin line between defence and aggression.
:19:09. > :19:12.This is our universal right, that when somebody has not got the
:19:12. > :19:15.protection from anywhere, including the state, and this is not just in
:19:15. > :19:25.our religion, this is a human principle that if you are attacked
:19:25. > :19:31.
:19:31. > :19:41.and you have nobody to defend you, you defend yourself.
:19:41. > :19:44.At a pro-government rally in Manama, Bahraini Shia are seen as the enemy.
:19:44. > :19:47.In an increasingly bitter conflict, they have condemned this party as
:19:47. > :19:53.one that would hand over the country to Iran. We are pure
:19:53. > :19:58.Bahrainis. We are not with Iran. We want all of us to come together
:19:58. > :20:00.and we just want peace. As you can see, there is a lot of violence on
:20:00. > :20:08.the roads. There are Molotov cocktails being thrown at policemen
:20:08. > :20:14.and there are roads which are being blocked. That is not what we want.
:20:14. > :20:16.America is anxious. Bahrain is a strategic defence partner and
:20:16. > :20:25.instability here represents a serious threat to American
:20:25. > :20:35.interests in the region. The US has considered Bahrain a
:20:35. > :20:38.
:20:38. > :20:40.strategic ally for 60 years. We have our Fifth Fleet here. This is
:20:40. > :20:44.a region where we have security concerns. That relationship needs
:20:44. > :20:54.to go forward in a constructive and positive way. We also want a stable
:20:54. > :20:55.
:20:55. > :20:58.society here, where people can function freely.
:20:58. > :21:02.As night falls, the daily ritual of protest and violence in the
:21:02. > :21:06.villages starts up all over again. In the beginning it used to be just
:21:06. > :21:09.the younger people but now you see all kinds of people. I just saw two
:21:09. > :21:12.sisters with their mother. Sometimes you see grandfathers with
:21:12. > :21:14.their grandchildren. Everybody is so upset and frustrated at what is
:21:14. > :21:24.happening. A few hundred metres away, a police
:21:24. > :21:27.
:21:27. > :21:30.line begins to advance towards a makeshift barricade. It does not
:21:30. > :21:36.take long before the tear-gas canisters arc through the air
:21:37. > :21:46.towards the protesters. A cat and mouse game has been going on for
:21:47. > :21:49.
:21:50. > :21:57.months and it continues. On the streets of the Shia villages,