LONDON: The Islamic Human Rights Commission is outraged over the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters by the Bahraini police who have cracked down on the Bahraini protest camp in Manama, Capital of Bahrain. IHRC urges all campaigners to write letters to the foreign secretaries in their home countries urging them to pressure the Bahraini government to end the use of violence, stop the killing of peaceful protesters, to respect the human rights of the protesters and to allow them to demand their civil liberties without violating their rights to demonstrate. It was reported that people have seen the police throwing tear gas at the protesters and collecting their bodies in morgues. The number of Bahraini citizens killed continues to grow as hundreds of heavily armed riot police continues to use tear gas, shotguns, rubber bullets and buck shots at the protesters in Pearl Square, where the protesters have setup a pro-democracy camp. The protests started with peaceful marches on 14 February 2011, which they called “The Day of Rage”. They were calling on the King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa to enact democracy; however they were met with excessive use of violence. There have been at least five deaths and over 200 injured . Curfew has been imposed widely while the army patrols the streets of Manama. The monarchy in Bahrain has the support of the US government, as the US Fifth Fleet is hosted in Bahrain. Reuters reported that a spokesman for the Pentagon said the American military was “closely watching developments” and urged “all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from violence.” The allies of the Kingdom of Bahrain must impose pressure on the government to end the use of violence against the peaceful protesters who are calling for their rights. Bahrain is a state party to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and must respect and maintain the human rights of its citizens. It must cease from violating its own laws and its international obligations. Bahrain is also a state party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture). IHRC urges the Bahraini government to respect the right to demonstrate, to investigate the wide use of violence, allegations of torture and to prosecute those who violate the rights of demonstrators. It must also release all the peaceful activists detained during the demonstrations. IHRC
