Bahrain: Demonstrations as Protesters March on Pearl Roundabout

According to activists, tens of thousands of people protested in Bahrain’s restive city of Sitra in response to the death of a 14-year-old boy, Ali Jawad Ahmad, at the hands of security forces during an anti-government protest on Wednesday.  Crowds carried the boy’s body from his home to a cemetery while chanting “Down, down, Hamad!”, referring to the country’s leader, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. Bahraini security forces did not confront the demonstrators, who dispersed peacefully following the burial of the young boy.

The evening prior to the boy’s funeral, hundreds of protesters clashed with police in the capital while attempting to reoccupy the Pearl Roundabout where demonstrations centered in the spring.  Sheikh Isa Qassim, a senior Shiite cleric, blamed police for the boy’s death and called it an indication that the island nation’s Sunni rulers are not listening to people’s demands for greater rights. He stated “Can’t they learn from the fall of dictatorships and see what happens to those who denied their people basic rights?”