Bahrainis rally to protest against torture in prison

Bahraini demonstrators have taken to the streets in several regions in the Persian Gulf state to protest against the torture of pro-democracy activists arrested by the Al Khalifa regime. The protests took place on Friday in the capital Manama and a number of villages including Salmabad, Sitra and Diraz. The protests comes after Bahraini pro-democracy activist Rayhana Al-Mousawi said on Thursday that the Al Khalifa regime forces tortured her physically and psychologically while in custody. Also on Thursday, Bahrain’s main opposition party, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, issued a statement saying that the actions of the regime “reflect its detachment from Islamic, national ,and humanitarian values and principles, and its behavior refers to degraded practice which does not exclude assaults on women and detention camps, in a way which crossed the red line.” “By that behavior, the regime has drawn a new map for practice, and what detainee Rayhana Al-Mousawi and others had revealed was a complete degradation and a deprivation from humanitarian and national values… and all the officials in this regime hold the responsibly of its outcomes,” the statement said. The Bahraini uprising began in mid-February 2011, when the people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations. The Bahraini government promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring states. Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds, including doctors and nurses accused of treating injured revolutionaries. Bahrainis say they will continue holding demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically elected government is met.