Thursday, October 28, 2010

Shi'ites on Trial in Bahrain

The Bahraini government is putting 25 Shi'ites on trial for allegedly conspiring against the Sunni government.  You may remember that blogger Ali Abdulemam is also on trial.  This article finally mentions that he is a Shi'ite.  Also, another blogger, and activist, is on trial too: Abdeljalil Al-Singace.

Seventy percent of the Bahraini population is Shi'ite, but the ruling family and most of the government is Sunni.  Because of that, the rulers are paranoid about the Shi'ites taking over and being too close to Iran.  Most of those arrested are considered human rights activists and have probably been tortured.  This is really a deplorable state of affairs for Bahrain.  Many of the Gulf nations have slowly been expanding voting rights and civil liberties, but this is a huge step backwards for Bahrain.

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