Background of the 2011 Bahraini uprising
The Bahraini people have protested sporadically throughout the last decades demanding social, economic and political rights.[1]: .
Bahrain is relatively poor when compared to its oil-rich Gulf neighbors; its oil has "virtually dried up" and it depends on banking and the tourism sector.
Three years later the British placed the country under the de facto rule of Charles Belgrave who operated as an adviser to the ruler until 1957.
Having no legal code, the country's judiciary was run by Belgrave giving him the ability to control any opposition movement.
[3] In the 1950s sectarian clashes occurred when a group of Sunnis including members of the royal family, among them the ruler's brother, attacked a Shia religious ritual and a neighborhood.
They said Belgrave was "helping foment religious hatred and imprisoning innocent people" and demanded his removal as well as installing a democratic system and a code of law.
[3] The NUC is regarded by Bahraini scholar Abdulhadi Khalaf as the "earliest serious and still enduring challenge to ethnic politics in Bahrain".
The purpose, according to secret British documents was "to give Henderson a free hand to reorganise it [the "Special Branch"] into an efficient, modern covert surveillance 'anti terrorist' organisation".
This move was analyzed later as "building up an intricate system of infiltrators and double agents inside the protest movement".
[2] Two years later the constitution was suspended and the assembly dissolved by the late Emir, Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa after it rejected the State Security Law.
It gave police wide arresting powers and allowed individuals to be held in prison without trial or charge for up to three years for mere suspicion "that they might be a threat to the state".
In 1992, a petition signed by 280 society leaders, including some of the dissolved parliament members demanded the restoration of the national assembly.
Another petition the following month concluded that the newly formed council "does not replace the national assembly as a constitutional and legislative authority".
[3] It started in June 1994, when over 1,500 demonstrator organized a sit-in front of Ministry of Labor protesting the increasing rate of unemployment which had reached 15 percent.
[3] Over forty people were killed, including several detainees while in police custody allegedly due to torture and at least three policemen.
Following intensive contacts and discussions, opposition leaders accepted the National Action Charter of Bahrain proposed by the Emir.
Despite promising that the appointed upper house "would be limited to 'advising'", it was given more powers and exercised a "de facto veto" over the elected lower half.
[1]: 15 The 2002 parliamentary election was boycotted by four opposition societies including Al Wefaq who "felt betrayed by the king’s unilateral reform" and "pushed for a return to the 1973 constitution".
[16] The period between 1975 and 2001 known as the "State Security Law Era", saw wide range of human rights violations including arbitrary arrests, detention without trial, torture and forced exile.
[21] During the "State Security Law Era", torture was frequently used by the Bahraini government and resulted in the deaths of several individuals.
[17][18] In 1997, Human Right Watch said it found that "[s]ystematic beating as well as other forms of physical and psychological abuse of detainees are pervasive in Bahrain" and that at least seven individuals had died while in police custody.
[22] However Royal Decree 56 of 2002 gave effective immunity to all those accused of torture during the 1990s uprising and before (including notorious figures such as Ian Henderson[23] and Adel Flaifel.[24]).
[13] The Shia majority ruled by the Sunni Al khalifa family since the 18th century have long complained of what they call systemic discrimination.
[28] In 2010, Al Wefaq the main Shia party won 60% of votes, however it only received 45% of seats due to alleged gerrymandering of electoral districts in favor of Sunnis.
[34] Despite its oil-rich Gulf neighbors, Bahrain's oil, discovered in 1932[35] has "virtually dried up" making it relatively poor compared to countries in its region.
[26] In recent decades, Bahrain has moved towards banking and the tourism sector[36] making it one of the most important financial hubs in the region and has since held some of the top international rankings in economic freedom[37] and business friendly countries,[38] making it, as of 2012, the freest economy in the Middle East, according to the 2012 edition of Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.
[49] In 2007, CNN produced a documentary titled "Poverty in Bahrain",[50] which was criticized by pro-government newspaper, Gulf Daily News.
[26][53] Although government officials and media often accuse the opposition of being influenced by Iran, a government-appointed commission found no evidence supporting the claim.
