A teenage boy was killed in clashes with police at a Shi'ite village near Bahrain's capital Manama on Feb. 14, as hundreds took to the streets to mark the second anniversary of the uprising in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. The youth was hit by shotgun fire in the village of Dia, Bahrain's major Shiite opposition bloc al-Wefaq announced on Twitter. Strikes and protests to commemorate the uprising were called by clandestine online groups such as the February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition [5]. Security forces used tear-gas to prevent protesters from marching on the former Pearl Square [6], where activists camped for a month before being forcefully driven out in March 2011 (after which authorities demolished its iconic monument and changed the plaza's name). The two years of unrest in Bahrain have left at least 80 dead.
Amnesty International is calling for the release of Bahrain's more than two dozen "prisoners of conscience." Amnesty said: "It's time that people detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression be released." (Middle East Online [7], BBC News [8], Feb. 14)
