The right to freedom of expression, and to express political dissent or dissatisfaction with government policy is guaranteed. There have been 89 rallies and demonstrations since the beginning of the year many of which expressing views critical of the government drawing thousands and tens of thousands of demonstrators. However, there are many that are not. Such rallies and demonstrations often lead more disruption and harm than express any opinion.
Since February 2011, 1571 police personnel have suffered injuries requiring medical treatment, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) found that 2 police officers have been targeted and killed during the unrest. The report also found that Groups of vandals and gangs of individuals armed with knives, swords and other weapons were report in many of Bahrains cities and villages. A number of assaults against expatriates and workers were also recorded, as well as several attacks against police officers (BICI, 491). The deaths of two South Asian expatriate workers have also been attributed to rioters by the report and in statements by the US State Department. Additionally, In the 3 month period of May-August of this year 115 police officers suffered injuries requiring medical treatment, 56 of them suffered serious life changing injuries that include severe burns on over 90% of their bodies. Furthermore, In June, citizens reported 1,161 cases of vandalism including damage to some 75 private vehicles.
It is also worth noting that there has been an noticeable escalation in violence ranging from adding materials into petrol bombs to enable them to mimic the effects of napalm, increasing both the severity and intensity of the burns to their targets, to improvised metal rod launchers that have led the death of an innocent by stander and serious injury to police officers requiring complex surgical procedures, and most alarmingly, the “discovery of sophisticated bomb-making material” in a number of villages and cities in Bahrain, acknowledged by Assistant Secretary of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner in August of this year.
It must be emphasized that those who act within the rule of law and stage legal rallies and demonstrations are guaranteed that right. However, where there is an issue, it is not about the exercise of the right of free expression nor is it about the political or religious persuasion of those exercising it, it is about the mode of that expression. Even the most liberal of democracies draws the line at intentional acts of disruption and violence. Disruptive and violent conduct is unacceptable, not according to the law or to the Bahraini people. Violence, whether one engages in it or tacitly condones hinders any efforts towards reconciliation.
It is clear that the actions of those involved fell well below any standard of legitimate free expression. That right, especially the way it was exercised, does not supersede the rights to life, safety, and security.