bfhr: 145 violations were observed in one day on the occasion of February 14

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The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) said that 145 serious human rights violations were observed in one day, coinciding with the February 14 anniversary. The violations varied between arbitrary arrests, suppression of peaceful protests, enforced disappearances, restrictions on freedom of movement, raids on homes, residential facilities and areas, unfair trials, confiscation or destruction of property, and broadcast of hate speech in the official press and social networking sites.
The BFHR pointed out that Bahrain witnessed more than 100 protest activities in 40 districts, pointing out that the activities included 66 peaceful gatherings and dozens of various protest activities such as closing shops, turning lights off, evening prayer session, etc. The BFHR added that 17 peaceful gatherings were subjected to excessive repression leaving 10 Injuries, 9 of which were due to the use of the internationally prohibited shotguns in the areas of Abu Saiba, Sitra, Al-Musalla and Al-Daih, and one case of suffocation in Al-Daih.
The BFHR also pointed out that twenty Bahraini citizens are still subjected to short-term enforced disappearance, and they are from the following areas: Abu Saiba, Duraz, Bilad Al-Qadeem, Barbar, Damastan, Sar, Al-Dair, Sadad and Al-Daih. The BFHR said that the citizens include Ja’far Al-Qassim, who has been forcibly disappeared since 01/22/2018, noting that the Bahraini citizen Abdul-Nabi Fakhr from Al-Daih was arbitrarily arrested on the main street, in addition to Hussein Mohammed Ahmed from Damastan, who is being unfairly prosecuted, and will be presented to the High Court on 03/06/2018.
The BFHR added that there were 59 illegal raids on private residences and public facilities, pointing out that members of the security services deliberately raided the areas in an intimidating manner. The BFHR also said that 3 cases of property confiscation by the security authorities and one case of property damage were observed, adding that Duraz has been under siege for 605 days, since June 20, 2016. The BFHR further added that the leader of the Shiite community in Bahrain, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Ahmed Qassim has been placed under house arrest by the authorities for 267 days, since May 23, 2017, without a judicial order or administrative decision.
The BFHR further said that 31 media articles and messages that incite or encourage to incite hatred were observed in five articles in Bahraini Al-Watan and Akhbar Al-Khaleej newspapers and 26 post on social networking sites.