At the Sitra funeral of a 15-year-old boy named Sayed Hashim Saeed allegedly killed by security forces the day before, thousands marched to decry the royal government of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

"[4]: 424 [5] On 6 January, while leading a peaceful nighttime protest in the Fareeq el-Makharqa district of Manama, prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab was hospitalized and briefly detained after allegedly being beaten by riot police.

[17] Opposition political parties including Al Wefaq[10] and the National Democratic Action Society,[18] as well as human rights organizations,[9] condemned the alleged attack.

[22] On 15 January King Hamad made a televised speech stating that he would issue decrees to introduce constitutional changes, such as granting parliament the right to question ministers and approve the appointed cabinet.

Opposition groups say announcements of apparently conciliatory gestures coincide with harsh treatment of protesters, who continue to confront security forces in clashes largely confined to Shia villages.

[23] On 21 January Bahraini police fired tear gas to break up a march by thousands of Shi'ites mourning a man whom activists said was killed in custody but officials said had drowned.

[26] The US Embassy in Bahrain announced that it was relocating some of its personnel due to a “recent increase in violent demonstrations along the Budaiya Highway corridor has led to traffic disruptions, effectively restricting travel for those living in the area”, according to the State Department.

[27] The State Department found no signs that Americans are being "targeted directly" but cited "isolated examples of anti-US sentiment" taking place on the streets while "US flags have occasionally been burned" during protests.

[28] In a statement, February 14 Youth Coalition condemned "international community silence and double-standard approach over the countless crimes and violations which have been committed by the regime in Bahrain and the invading Saudi Arabia forces under disguise of GCC Peninsula Shield."

Opposition groups claimed that Mohammed Ebrahim Ya'agob (17 years) died in the early hours of 26 January as a result of torture in police custody after they drove over and arrested him the earlier day in Sitra A brief statement by the Interior Ministry says public prosecutors are investigating the death.

"[34] The New York Times reported Western intelligence officials expressing concern that Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi Shiite politician, was working with the leading opposition group in Bahrain, Al Wefaq National Islamic Society.

A French intelligence official said, “When we hear that some members of the opposition are in touch with Hezbollah or with shady figures like the Iraqi Ahmed Chalabi, of whom we think he is acting on behalf of Iran, then this worries us”.

Minister of Cabinet Affairs Kamal Mohammed said the government expressed “deep concern” over the increasing violence during unauthorized protests lately, according to state-run news agency BNA.

Many residents of Sitra were doused in tear gas as police faced off against youths who blocked roads, set tyres alight and threw petrol bombs.

The protest ended peacefully, however hundreds of youth tried to march back to the site of the now demolished symbolic Pearl roundabout, and were dispersed by security forces with tear gas.

The attacked was condemned by Al-Wefaq, Bahrain's main opposition party, a number of local MP's, the UN Secretary General and Gulf Cooperation Council General-Secretary.

[43][44] Pro-government newspaper Akhbar Al Khaleej reported that a bus was burned by a "radical" group called "Asa'ib Althawra" using Molotov cocktails in Sehla.

[51] Jawad Fayrooz, a leader in Al-Wefaq, the country's largest opposition group, downplayed the credibility of the government account and said "mystery surrounds what is announced by the regime every now and then about the occurrence of explosions".

[57] Around 5,000 of pro-government Sunnis participated in a sit-in Al Fateh Grand Mosque yard in Juffair district of Manama supporting union plans that "do not prevent democratic progress" with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

[60] Al Wefaq said they postponed their sit in front of UN building in Manama after Ministry of Interior refused to give them authorization "due to conflicting with another event in a nearby area".

Speakers cited BICI findings of human rights allegations committed by the government in 2011 such as arbitrary arrests, use of excessive and unnecessary force, torture and destruction of mosques, noting that these violations are still occurring.

[61] For the second night, opposition parties organised a sit-in Muqsha' in conjunction with Bahrain's Universal Periodic Review renewing their calls for a dialogue based on Manama Paper and Crown Prince's initiative which he proposed in March 2011.

[79] Sayed Hadi al-Mosawi, former MP of Al Wefaq was released on bail after an hour and half of investigation in Public Prosecution after Ministry of Interior accused him of "insulting" it in a press conference on 29 May.

[83] A small protest involving Ali Salman, Secretary General of the Al Wefaq political party, and Hassan al-Marzooq, another opposition leader, was fired on by riot police.

The head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, Mohammed al-Maskati, said activist Zainab al-Khawaja was arrested early on Friday when she tried to hold a solitary protest sit-in at al-Badei street close to the capital Manama.

[91] Bahrain on Tuesday delayed until 4 September a ruling in the retrial of 20 men convicted of leading an uprising last year, lawyers said, a case under scrutiny from U.S. officials keen for acquittals to help restore calm in the Gulf kingdom.

The 20 men, including seven being tried in absentia, are believed to be among hundreds who an international rights commission assessed in November 2011 had been tortured during a period of martial law imposed to help quell the uprising.

Protesters pelted police with petrol bombs and stones in clashes that broke out in Bahrain on Tuesday night at the funeral for a teenage demonstrator killed last week in a new bout of unrest in the kingdom.

[96] A Bahrain appeals court acquitted activist Nabeel Rajab, who had been handed a three-month jail sentence on 9 July 2012 for alleged insults made on Twitter to members of the Sunni community.

[97] Maryam al-Khawaja, the Denmark-based international spokesperson for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was refused entry into Egypt at Cairo airport after landing Sunday, accusing the Arab governments of continuing repressive security cooperation despite political change in the region.