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Now an exclusive report from Bahrain, where the country is | :00:04. | :00:14. | |
:00:14. | :00:24. | ||
When I hear that women are being All you have to do to get attacked | :00:24. | :00:29. | |
with tear gas in Bahrain is to call for freedom. They are trying to | :00:29. | :00:39. | |
:00:39. | :00:41. | ||
Bahrain - the Arab Spring's forgotten uprising. Nightly clashes | :00:41. | :00:49. | |
in this tiny kingdom. Majority Shia Muslims are demanding reforms in a | :00:49. | :00:56. | |
country ruled by a Sunni king. This is happening almost every | :00:56. | :01:06. | |
:01:06. | :01:07. | ||
Growing sectarian tensions here have the potential to plunge the | :01:07. | :01:17. | |
:01:17. | :01:49. | ||
country and the regions into Bahrain is the forgotten story of | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
the Arab revolutions. I have been covering the kingdom on and off for | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
more than five years. Each time I return, the split between Sunni and | :01:56. | :02:03. | |
Shia grows wider and more dangerous. This time, we were one of just a | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
handful of Western journalists allowed into a country that used to | :02:06. | :02:12. | |
be known for its openness. As you drive through the wealthy heart of | :02:12. | :02:15. | |
the capital Manama, there are few signs of the unrest threatening to | :02:15. | :02:25. | |
:02:25. | :02:26. | ||
One year ago, the Arab Spring reached Bahrain. Activists inspired | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
by uprisings across the region took over Pearl Roundabout in the | :02:29. | :02:39. | |
:02:39. | :02:39. | ||
capital. Within days, there was a bloody response. Pearl Roundabout | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
was cleared but the protesters returned. Under pressure to end the | :02:42. | :02:46. | |
occupation, King Hamad invited in Saudi troops and a brutal crackdown | :02:46. | :02:53. | |
ensued. The US with his Fifth Fleet stationed in the country, convinced | :02:53. | :03:02. | |
the king to end the crackdown. A human rights investigation led by | :03:02. | :03:05. | |
Professor Sherif Basyouni issued a report in November that catalogues | :03:05. | :03:08. | |
systematic oppression, use of force and the sacking of huge numbers of | :03:08. | :03:18. | |
:03:18. | :03:27. | ||
public workers, the majority of This is why the government is keen | :03:27. | :03:37. | |
:03:37. | :03:38. | ||
Formula One racing is massive here. Because of the unrest, last year's | :03:38. | :03:48. | |
:03:48. | :03:48. | ||
race was cancelled. 29 Shia Formula One workers were arbitrarily fired. | :03:49. | :03:56. | |
This man is chairman of the company that runs F1 here. The organisation | :03:56. | :04:03. | |
says mistakes were made but it is time for the country to move on. | :04:04. | :04:06. | |
The charges against these employees were dropped and His Majesty | :04:06. | :04:13. | |
ordered for them to be rehired. We welcomed them back with open arms | :04:13. | :04:21. | |
and they are back with us now. cancellation of last year's race | :04:21. | :04:27. | |
was because of security concerns. F1 boss Bernie Eccleston has said | :04:27. | :04:34. | |
that he sees no reason for the race not to go ahead this year. But what | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
is only just emerging are allegations that most of the people | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
who were sacked here were subject to sectarian abuse and beatings at | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
the time of their arrest. It is a charge that the Bahrain | :04:44. | :04:52. | |
International Circuit denies. think what happened one year ago, | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
some of it was the mistake of the government and some of it was the | :04:56. | :05:03. | |
mistake of the opposition. I think that His Majesty has been very | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
courageous and forward-looking by engaging with the investigation and | :05:06. | :05:15. | |
graciously accepting this report. I am yet to see a clear declaration | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
from the opposition or of the parties who were involved in those | :05:18. | :05:26. | |
events to say that they have made any mistakes. The trade union | :05:26. | :05:30. | |
movement protested outside the Ministry of Labour. They dispute | :05:30. | :05:39. | |
the account given by the Formula One chiefs. They say that five | :05:39. | :05:47. | |
sacked workers have not been rehired. More than 3,000 workers in | :05:47. | :05:55. | |
the public and private sectors lost their jobs. We still have more than | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
1,000 workers dismissed and suspended and sacked. All workers | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
in private and public sectors should be reinstated instantly, | :06:03. | :06:13. | |
:06:13. | :06:22. | ||
When security forces attacked the occupiers of Pearl Roundabout last | :06:22. | :06:30. | |
year, doctors went to help. colleagues and I volunteered to set | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
up a medical tent to help protesters and the people in | :06:33. | :06:43. | |
:06:43. | :06:50. | ||
general. As the uprising continued, many doctors joined the protest. | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
Whoever helped participate or volunteer at the medical tent was | :06:53. | :07:00. | |
punished. Brutally punished. Last March when the uprising was crushed, | :07:00. | :07:07. | |
the government began to round them up as well, including Dr Nada Dhaif. | :07:07. | :07:13. | |
I went to sleep on the 18th. At three o'clock in the morning, the | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
door opened and more than two dozen masked men, fully armed men, raided | :07:17. | :07:27. | |
:07:27. | :07:28. | ||
my house and they took me directly from my bedroom. She was tortured | :07:28. | :07:30. | |
and forced into signing a confession, convicted before a | :07:31. | :07:38. | |
military tribunal and given a lengthy jail term. I was beaten | :07:38. | :07:43. | |
immediately after the arrest. The abuse started immediately. Verbal | :07:43. | :07:53. | |
abuse. They cursed me, my family, my religion. They use every dirty | :07:53. | :08:00. | |
word that you could imagine. And the physical abuse... I was beaten | :08:00. | :08:10. | |
:08:10. | :08:12. | ||
on my head, shoulders, neck, back. I was kicked. I was spat at several | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
times. I was electrocuted in one session in order to get the | :08:16. | :08:24. | |
confession. The psychological and mental torment... I was kept in | :08:24. | :08:34. | |
solitary confinement for 22 days. She is out on appeal. The report | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
documented 60 cases of torture in detention. The government has not | :08:38. | :08:43. | |
challenged that figure. Instead, they have promised reform. We are | :08:43. | :08:45. | |
willing to bring forward any investigation to find the people | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
who not only did these acts of torture but also who tolerated | :08:49. | :08:59. | |
:08:59. | :09:02. | ||
these acts of torture. There is no state policy on this. I would like | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
to say that nobody in this country would agree with such abhorrent | :09:06. | :09:16. | |
:09:16. | :09:19. | ||
acts that were committed. report was a damning indictment of | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
the country's security forces but the police were anxious to give us | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
their side of the story. We were invited along for a ride with an | :09:28. | :09:35. | |
elite unit. Every night, units like this are coming under fire from | :09:35. | :09:44. | |
protesters. We warn them three times and after the warning, we | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
tell them to go, that this is illegal, it is not allowed. After | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
that, they do not listen to us and they start throwing Molotov | :09:53. | :10:03. | |
:10:03. | :10:15. | ||
There has been a detailed excessive use of force in the streets. And | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
torture in detention. The king accepted the report and promised | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
change. However, in the months since it was released, critics say | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
police have continued to behave with impunity. Five police officers | :10:29. | :10:36. | |
and more than 50 civilians have died since the uprising began. | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
Human rights organisations have attributed 12 of those deaths to | :10:39. | :10:49. | |
:10:49. | :10:52. | ||
heavy and inappropriate use of tear-gas. How can we beat them? We | :10:53. | :10:59. | |
just have our shield. There was the gas. That's it. This is everything | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
we have here. For this woman, she tells a | :11:04. | :11:14. | |
:11:14. | :11:14. | ||
different story. All the house was full of gas. | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
She says her mother died after police used tear-gas. | :11:17. | :11:27. | |
:11:27. | :11:29. | ||
She was here. She was lying here. We tried to cover this area and | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
this area so that no other smoke came inside. But no use. She had | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
already passed away. The police told me if it happened | :11:37. | :11:40. | |
it was an accident. They would not deliberately fire tear gas into a | :11:40. | :11:43. | |
house. But incidents like this have scarred relationships between | :11:43. | :11:53. | |
:11:53. | :11:56. | ||
police and the people. I've been brought here by the | :11:56. | :12:00. | |
government to advice. There are many areas for police reform. | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
In a surprise career move, the former chief of Scotland Yard moved | :12:03. | :12:09. | |
to Bahrain in January. They have made excellent progress | :12:09. | :12:12. | |
in things like the removal of certain officers, but other things | :12:12. | :12:22. | |
:12:22. | :12:23. | ||
will take time. You cannot expect massive reform in a matter of weeks. | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
Human rights training for thousands of police officers is an immense | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
undertaking. I have spoken to people who have | :12:29. | :12:34. | |
told me that they were taken. This has happened in the last couple of | :12:34. | :12:40. | |
the weeks. They were picked up and taken to unofficial sites or areas | :12:40. | :12:42. | |
that have not been officially recognised as police stations, | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
beaten, tortured they say, and I can tell you the areas. There is a | :12:46. | :12:56. | |
:12:56. | :13:01. | ||
youth hostel, a racing track. This is happening. These are issues now. | :13:01. | :13:06. | |
You are bringing up these things now. They have happened. There is a | :13:06. | :13:15. | |
proper procedure where people need to make their complaints. It will | :13:15. | :13:23. | |
be addressed and investigated. There is, however, an awful lot of | :13:23. | :13:29. | |
mischief on these social media websites. There is talk of reform. | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
But is it too late? Are sectarian divisions in danger of escalating, | :13:32. | :13:42. | |
:13:42. | :13:50. | ||
destabilising the entire region? A holiday to mark the birth of the | :13:51. | :13:59. | |
Prophet Muhammad. The Shia are celebrating, and mark it on a | :13:59. | :14:07. | |
different day from the Sunnis. Differences like these used to not | :14:07. | :14:12. | |
matter in Bahrain but they do now. These implications go well beyond | :14:13. | :14:22. | |
:14:23. | :14:30. | ||
this tiny group of islands. Across the Gulf, Shia Iran. To the | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
west, Saudi Arabia, where the rulers have their own sectarian | :14:33. | :14:42. | |
problems. Fearful of Iran, the Saudis exert a strong influence | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
over the Bahrain royal family and they have made it clear they will | :14:46. | :14:53. | |
not tolerate any concessions to the Shia in Bahrain. | :14:53. | :14:56. | |
Freedom Square, a plot of ground where anti-government protesters | :14:56. | :15:06. | |
:15:06. | :15:12. | ||
gather. They are calling for the king to step down. As this conflict | :15:12. | :15:20. | |
deepens, the young Shia are growing more radical. The leaders of the | :15:20. | :15:23. | |
largest Shia opposition party urge restraint but many wonder if they | :15:23. | :15:29. | |
can contain the anger. We are ready to go to die at any | :15:29. | :15:37. | |
time. Any time. We will not find a real solution for this country | :15:37. | :15:45. | |
where there is this political situation. We need to solve this. | :15:45. | :15:48. | |
Are you not calling for a regime change? | :15:48. | :15:58. | |
:15:58. | :16:03. | ||
No. We are calling for a constitution. A real constitutional | :16:03. | :16:08. | |
monarchy. We can keep the royal family but we want a system where | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
the Prime Minister is elected. This is what we believe is good for | :16:11. | :16:21. | |
:16:21. | :16:23. | ||
Bahrain. To really understand the depth of | :16:23. | :16:27. | |
Shia anger, you need to leave the towers of the capital behind and | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
head into the villages along the main highways that run from the | :16:30. | :16:40. | |
:16:40. | :16:52. | ||
capital. Communities like this one. It is known amongst activists as | :16:53. | :16:59. | |
the Isle of Martyrs. Many people have died since the uprising last | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
February and many have come here. To understand the divisions that | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
exist in this country, you come to a place like this. It is a poor | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
Shia community where the streets are covered in rubbish and the | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
walls are plastered with anti- government slogans. This one says, | :17:12. | :17:22. | |
:17:22. | :17:23. | ||
'Down, down with King Hamad'. Impoverished Shia communities sit | :17:23. | :17:29. | |
next to factories. Some of the harshest crackdowns in the uprising | :17:29. | :17:36. | |
happened here. One of the things I have notice is | :17:36. | :17:38. | |
that they are targeting children more. | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
This woman's father was jailed for life for allegedly plotting to | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
overthrow the government. She is a leading human rights campaigner and | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
rejects the idea that the opposition is responsible for | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
sectarian tension. The government is trying to divide | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
and conquer. The revolution is not a sectarian one. It is demanding | :17:56. | :18:01. | |
democracy and freedom for everybody. The government is saying, talk with | :18:01. | :18:11. | |
:18:11. | :18:14. | ||
us. Why not? We have done that before. In 2001, | :18:14. | :18:18. | |
we had a dialogue. But with these dictators, every time they make | :18:18. | :18:23. | |
promises they break them. During Friday prayers the most | :18:23. | :18:26. | |
senior Shia cleric calls for peaceful protest, but his sermons | :18:26. | :18:35. | |
are ratcheting up the tensions. With our souls and blood, they | :18:35. | :18:45. | |
:18:45. | :18:53. | ||
chant, we will sacrifice for you. Outside the mosque, I asked about | :18:53. | :19:03. | |
:19:03. | :19:05. | ||
the thin line between defence and aggression. | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
This is our universal right, that when somebody has not got the | :19:09. | :19:12. | |
protection from anywhere, including the state, and this is not just in | :19:12. | :19:15. | |
our religion, this is a human principle that if you are attacked | :19:15. | :19:25. | |
:19:25. | :19:31. | ||
and you have nobody to defend you, you defend yourself. | :19:31. | :19:41. | |
At a pro-government rally in Manama, Bahraini Shia are seen as the enemy. | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
In an increasingly bitter conflict, they have condemned this party as | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
one that would hand over the country to Iran. We are pure | :19:47. | :19:53. | |
Bahrainis. We are not with Iran. We want all of us to come together | :19:53. | :19:58. | |
and we just want peace. As you can see, there is a lot of violence on | :19:58. | :20:00. | |
the roads. There are Molotov cocktails being thrown at policemen | :20:00. | :20:08. | |
and there are roads which are being blocked. That is not what we want. | :20:08. | :20:14. | |
America is anxious. Bahrain is a strategic defence partner and | :20:14. | :20:16. | |
instability here represents a serious threat to American | :20:16. | :20:25. | |
interests in the region. The US has considered Bahrain a | :20:25. | :20:35. | |
:20:35. | :20:38. | ||
strategic ally for 60 years. We have our Fifth Fleet here. This is | :20:38. | :20:40. | |
a region where we have security concerns. That relationship needs | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
to go forward in a constructive and positive way. We also want a stable | :20:44. | :20:54. | |
:20:54. | :20:55. | ||
society here, where people can function freely. | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
As night falls, the daily ritual of protest and violence in the | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
villages starts up all over again. In the beginning it used to be just | :21:02. | :21:06. | |
the younger people but now you see all kinds of people. I just saw two | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
sisters with their mother. Sometimes you see grandfathers with | :21:09. | :21:12. | |
their grandchildren. Everybody is so upset and frustrated at what is | :21:12. | :21:14. | |
happening. A few hundred metres away, a police | :21:14. | :21:24. | |
:21:24. | :21:27. | ||
line begins to advance towards a makeshift barricade. It does not | :21:27. | :21:30. | |
take long before the tear-gas canisters arc through the air | :21:30. | :21:36. | |
towards the protesters. A cat and mouse game has been going on for | :21:37. | :21:46. | |
:21:47. | :21:49. | ||
months and it continues. On the streets of the Shia villages, | :21:50. | :21:57. |