Bahrainis demonstrate seeking constitutional reforms
Bahrain, Politics, 12/12/2005

Thousands of Bahrainis demonstrated in the capital Manama in protest of what they called violations and attacks that took place against activists during a demonstration, where last week the demonstrators were demanding jobs.

The demonstration, which was called the march of " rights and dignity", came at the invitation of opposition political societies and launched as from the central market in Manama on Saturday towards the financial port of Bahrain in the center of the capital.

A statement issued by the four opposition societies which organized the demonstration said that the movements comes in "solidarity with the young man Mousa Abed Ali who said he was exposed to physical and sexual torture from unidentified men" during a protest movement organized by the unemployed committee in which he is a member.

The statement calls for honoring rights of citizens as stipulated in the constitution, noting that the demonstration comes also to demand the right to work under "fair conditions" and the "right to supported residence for the people of limited income" and the "right to have a land."

Bahrain's minister of interior Rashid Bin Abdullah denied earlier the involvement of any security member in attacking activists and announced the beginning of investigations into these accusations.

Worthy mentioning that the four societies which organized the protests are the national reconciliation ( al-Wifaq al-Watani, Islamist, the main Shiite trend), the democratic national work ( leftists, nationals and independents ), the national democratic coalition ( nationalist Baathists), the Islamic labor ( Shiite representing the Shirazi trend). These societies boycotted the legislative elections in 2002 in protest of the constitutional amendments especially the equal power given to the legislative authority of elected and unelected entities in the parliament and the Shoura council, and are now seeking limits on the appointed members of the Shoura council in favor of the elected members.

Previous Stories:
  15 teenagers protesting unemployment arrested in Bahrain   (12/3/2005)
  Judicial activists demonstrate in Bahrain   (11/11/2005)
  Bahraini prime minister expresses his country's support to Syria   (11/10/2005)

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