Bahrain Arrests 13 Activists Demanding ’Anti-Regime’ Vote

Local Editor

Bahraini authorities have arrested 13 women in a crackdown on activists calling for an "anti-regime" referendum during the upcoming parliamentary election, activists said on Sunday.

Most of the arrests took place recently last week after the Bahraini interior ministry accused activists of "preparing an anti-regime referendum on the day of the legislative elections," one activist said on condition of anonymity.
Two of the women were released while the remaining 11 have been kept in custody for a week for questioning, the source said.

Several men were also arrested, activists said, adding however that the majority of those held are women.

Most opposition groups, led by the main group Al-Wefaq, have announced they will boycott the November polls.

In preparation for the polls, the interior ministry vowed on Saturday it would "confront" any one breaking the law and announced the deployment of police reinforcements to secure the elections.

Furthermore, the Bahraini authorities have taken a serious repressive step represented by the Administrative Court's decision to ban al-Wefaq group's activities for three months recently last month [October].

The group meanwhile denounced an "increased" campaign of arrest, targeting women activists.

Three Bahrain rights groups also denounced the arrests in a joint statement on Saturday. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said they "condemn in the strongest terms the arrest and alleged torture of at least 13 women in Bahrain."

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling on the royal family to relinquish power.

In March 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates [UAE] were deployed to Bahrain to help Manama quash the anti-regime protests.

Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.

Bahrain is a strategic archipelago and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team