Bahrain blogger's lawyer detained: rights group
A human rights activist for Frontline Defenders on Aug. 9 reported that the lawyer representing a Bahraini blogger held by authorities has been detained himself days after alleging his client had been tortured while in police custody. Abdul Aziz Moussa is representing Mohamed Hassan, who acted as a media contact point for various foreign news stories, which included coverage of anti-government protests and police crackdowns in Bahrain. Hassan was taken from his home in July by men associated with the Ministry of Interior and detained incommunicado at the Criminal Investigation Department. Moussa was detained on August 8 after he reported on Twitter the visible signs of torture he had seen on his client Hassan. Front Line Defenders considers that the arrest and detention of Hassan and Moussa to be directly related to their activities in defense of human rights.
From Jurist, Aug. 12. Used with permission.
Bahrain: regime shuts down planned protests
Scattered groups of protesters clashed with riot police in neighborhoods around Bahrain's capital Manama Aug. 14, and stores shut their doors amid opposition calls for a general strike—but a tight security clampdown appears to have headed off large-scale demonstrations in the city. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information protests a wave of "arbitrary detentions" before the planned protests, including of prominent athlete Mohamed Abdel Kader and populist cleric Fadel El-Gamry.
Sweeping and vague "anti-terrorism" laws were also pushed through head of the planned demonstrations. The protests—explicitly inspired by the "Rebel" campaign that brought down Morsi in Egypt—were nonetheless the largest in Bahrain in months. (MENA Solidarity, Aug. 15; AP, ANHRI, Aug. 13)