PART ONE
WIDE SHOT OF BAHRAIN
Bahrain: An island kingdom in the Arabian Gulf
where the Shi’a Muslim majority
BILLBOARD OF THE KHALIFA RULING FAMILY
are ruled by a family from the Sunni minority.
BOYS MARCHING WITH FLAG
Where people fighting for democratic rights—
broke the barriers of fear… believing…
POLICE BEATING PROTESTERS
only to find themselves alone and crushed
CROWDS CHEERING
This is their story
And Al Jazeera is their witness
The only TV journalists who remained
to follow their journey of hope
WOMEN SCREAMING AT FUNERAL
to the carnage that followed
PROTESTS AT PEARL ROUNDABOUT
This is the Arab revolution that was abandoned by the Arabs
forsaken by the west
and forgotten by the world
TITLE – BAHRAIN: SHOUTING IN THE DARK
FROM SILENCE FADE UP TO CROWD ROAR:
CHANT: “The people want to overthrow the regime!”
MASSIVE NIGHT PROTEST AT PEARL ROUNDABOUT
With the world’s cameras trained on Cairo and Tunis,
On February 16th we discovered what felt like a secret revolution.
No lights, no TV crews
Just a people shouting in the dark
WOMAN IN SILHOUETTE
Something inside was pushing me to go. I have to participate. I have to go. I can’t just stay home and watch TV. I can’t do that.
Tens of thousands had come to Pearl roundabout in the heart of the capital to call for democracy.
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
When I saw the crowd over there—oh-- really, it’s- the whole Bahrainis are here. It’s the real revolution. Whoever was afraid: Fear been broken on that day.
And it was all happening just one hour’s drive from the oil fields of Eastern Saudi Arabia…
… The fulcrum of the global economy
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
All these years we had been inside our villages, separate and isolated. This would be the point of take off for us. This would be the beginning of our freedom.
BOYS SLEEPING IN THE ROUNDABOUT
They went to bed that night in the street
believing they were already free
NATURAL SOUND POLICE SHOOTING
CHAOS AT PEARL ROUNDABOUT
At 3 am the government moved
To evict sleeping protesters from Pearl roundabout
Police swarmed the camp with shotguns and clubs.
Anyone too slow or injured to run
RIOT POLICE SURROUND AND BEAT PROTESTER INSIDE PEARL ROUNDABOUT
was beaten by police.
BOY CRYING IN A WHEELCHAIR BEING PUSHED INSIDE SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
At Salmaniyya, the country’s main hospital, the aftermath was on view.
Hundreds of protesters were shot
Tear-gassed
and beaten with rifle butts.
Dr. Ali Al Ekri was there.
DR. ALI AL EKRI
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
It was chaos. We cannot see anything. It was dark. We were in tears. Everybody is panicked. Kids were just under us. I just pulled one lady and another child was there. I was just going out and he pointed to me (makes gun motion) I told him Doctor! I am a Doctor! (raises arms)
As distraught family members flooded in
Doctors and nurses broke down…
SCREAMING FEMALE DOCTOR
… overcome by the scenes of violence that shocked this small Gulf nation.
For hours the hospital’s ambulances were prevented from reaching protesters who were injured and dying.
DR. GHASSAN DHAIF
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
There is a ministerial order from the Minister of Health not to send anybody from the paramedics or the ambulance people in order to serve the casualties. So let them lie in the street. Let these police people do whatever they want.
Any uniformed medic caught trying to save protesters at Pearl Roundabout was attacked.
Dr. Sadiq al Ekri, a senior surgeon, was handcuffed and beaten.
DR. SAADIQ AL EKRI
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
I was wearing the uniform for doctors. You know that one with the, with the crescent. Then they tie me and they attack me when I’m tying then I don't know how many people, maybe 10, maybe 20. I don't remember all. From everywhere I was hit by sticks, by legs, I don’t know, then they told me get up or we’ll kill you.
After breaking Doctor Ekri’s nose and ribs, he says police pulled his pants down and threatened to rape him.
HOSPITAL MORGUE
Four had died at Pearl Roundabout
AHMED ABU TAKI
My brother was asleep next to the roundabout. Then the policeman is coming and they shoot him. When he was asleep. He’s going there because he’s looking for work. He’s only 22 years. Look what they did with this man. (points to a man who lost half his skull) See. See what they did. See what they did in this man also. (points to a corpse riddled with bird shot) He let all people sleep then he come he’s shooting by gun. He’s using gun for animal he’s using for human.
CRYING MAN SHOUTS: “Death to Khalifa”
PEOPLE CRYING OUTSIDE MORGUE
GCC EMERGENCY MEETING
That night, the Gulf Cooperation Council, six countries that control half the world’s oil reserves,
had an emergency meeting.
Arab Revolution had reached the shores of the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman-- pledged to support the Khalifa ruling family of member Bahrain.
And the Khalifas announced the strategy they would use to justify a crackdown.
KHALID BIN AHMED AL KHALIFA
FOREIGN MINISTER OF BAHRAIN
The society at that moment was being polarized. The country was walking on the brink of a sectarian abyss.
TANKS IN THE STREET
The Bahraini Army locked down the capital
occupied Pearl Roundabout
and banned all gatherings.
FUNERAL MARCH
CHANTING:
“These are your martyrs, O Bahrain”
CRYING BOYS ON TOP OF CAR
CHANTING:
“They died as a sacrifice to you, O Bahrain”
AHMED LOOKING AT PICTURE OF HIS BROTHER
Thousands attended funerals for the four who died in Pearl roundabout
CHANT:
“Revolution, revolution until victory!”
No one was ready to give up
The intensity of grief and determination
AHMED FAINTS
made relatives faint
And the funeral marches
PROTEST MARCH
turned into protest marches
headed back to Pearl Roundabout
RAIN OF BULLETS CUTS DOWN PROTESTERS
Once again, peaceful protesters faced government bullets
this time from the army
HOSPITAL CHAOS
At Salmaniyya Hospital the cycle began again.
DR. GHASSAN DHAIF
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
As if we are in a war. It’s chaos. The hospital is full of casualties. All the medical staff are running on their feet…
Doctor Ghassan Dhaif appealed to the world on Al Jazeera
DR. GHASSAN DHAIF
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
… We call for help here in Bahrain, we call on the US, EU, all Arab countries, to come here and help us…
…They are just innocent demonstrators. It’s unbelievable…
MAN DYING IN INTENSIVE CARE
In intensive care, a man named Abdul Ridha was clinging to life.
Doctors struggled to stop his bleeding.
DR. NIHAD SHIRAWI
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
This is a bullet, gunshot wound direct to his head. And he’s bleeding profusely, from his nose from his ear. His brain is shattered into pieces… I don’t know the name of the patient. I don’t care about the name of the patient. They are all patients here.
MALE NURSE SHOUTS: Yella let’s go!
Ridha’s brain was destroyed
But his body was still alive
The team rushed him to surgery
for a last-ditch effort
Where he died
ANGRY PROTEST IN FRONT OF HOSPITAL
Expelled from Pearl Roundabout
thousands now gathered in front of Salmaniyya
It had been a humanitarian refuge
Now its car park would give refuge to protests
WOMEN SCREAMING
which only grew larger and more emotional
INJURED MAN ARRIVING AT EMERGENCY ENTRANCE
with the arrival of each new injury.
FEVERISH CHANT: Down with Hamad! Down with Hamad!
BAHRAIN TV DISCO WORLD SPINS- BREAK IN PROGRAMMING
BAHRAIN TV PRESENTER
Suddenly someone just entered our studio without advance notice: the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad
Crown Prince Salman, believed to be the ruling family’s reformer, showed up at state television and demanded to be put on air.
SALMAN BIN HAMAD BIN ISA AL KHALIFA
CROWN PRINCE OF BAHRAIN
I want to express my condolences to all Bahrainis for the painful days we are living. I want to address them as one citizen to another, a message for men to be calm.
PROTESTERS WRAPPED IN BLANKETS
Protesters woke
on the hospital pavement
PRAYERS ON CARDBOARD
and prepared themselves
to try and take back Pearl Roundabout.
PROTESTERS MARCH
PROTESTERS SHOUTING AT POLICE GUARDING THE PEARL
Police warned protesters: turn back
CHANTING:
“Sunni and Shi’a are brothers, this country cannot be sold”
They refused
POLICE LEAVING
Then like magic
Police got in their cars and drove away.
PEOPLE SINGING:
“The people are victorious and God made it so!”
PEOPLE ARRIVING AT PEARL ROUNDABOUT, CRYING AND CHEERING
They had won nothing more than the right to a sit-in protest
But to them, that seemed all the world
They had staked a claim to a few square meters of Bahrain
CHANTING:
“With our souls, with our blood, we would sacrifice anything for you Bahrain!”
YOUNG WOMAN
After the massacre that occurred here the Pearl roundabout holds a very big symbol to all Bahraini peoples over here. It gives them hope for victory.
YOUNG MAN
We came here peacefully. We are asking our minimum basic rights in this country as a human being.
2ND YOUNG MAN
It’s a free, free, free, here for free! Forever, and forever and forever we will stay here because it’s our country!
TENT STAKES DRILLED DOWN
Overnight Pearl Roundabout became a city of thousands
Portable toilets and satellite TV were installed
for the permanent national camping trip.
People made themselves comfortable
announcing they would wait for freedom and democracy
however long it might take.
CROWN PRINCE ADDRESS ON STATE TV
SALMAN BIN HAMAD AL KHALIFA
CROWN PRINCE OF BAHRAIN
Brothers and sisters, now we will start a new phase, a phase during which we will discuss all of our concerns with honesty.
The Crown Prince called for a national dialogue to establish a new relationship between the people and the Khalifas.
WIFAQ PARTY HQ
At the headquarters of Al Wifaq- the country’s largest opposition party-- informal discussions were underway.
Sunni and Shi’a opposition leaders sat on one side of the table
Regime loyalists on the other.
the opposition wanted a new constitution and fully elected parliament
Anything less would be rejected by protesters at Pearl Roundabout.
MATAR MATAR WORKING
Bahrain’s youngest MP, 35-year old Matar Matar was busy trying to organize talks.
MATAR MATAR
OPPOSITION MP
Prince Salman should announce his initiative and he should be very clear where is he going and what is his plan for the political reform? All the statements and declarations from him is vague… People are insisting to have something physical, not just promises.
PEOPLE CHEERING AT PEARL ROUNDABOUT
The Khalifa family has ruled Bahrain with absolute power since the 18th century
In 2001, Emir Hamad changed his status to king
Now, people no longer wanted to be subjects
but full citizens.
FOOD SERVING
People were anxious to participate
and gave everything away free
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
I went just so I could do something. Whether cleaning, or giving advice, making posters, serving food. This was for my country.
NIGHT SHOTS OF PEOPLE MILLING
At night Pearl roundabout hosted a national carnival
of civic activity
POPCORN
MAN POURS TEA SHOUTING:
“Drink tea for the sake of the country. Drink tea out of love for Bahrain.”
YOUTH SINGING WITH FLAG
MAN IN SILHOUETTE SOT:
You will find everybody there: Liberals, Sunnis, you’ll find communists, the doctors, the engineers, teachers, students, workers, from different categories of the society would be there.
Bahrainis are well- educated
but barred from nearly any share in political life
Their parliament has no legislative power,
and is dominated by royal appointees
The country has been run by the king’s uncle for 40 years
Khalifa
The longest serving prime minister on earth
Now people believed there would finally be change
Together
they would create it
STREET DEMONSTRATIONS
CHANTING:
“The people want to overthrow the regime!”
From Pearl Roundabout demonstrations spread across Bahrain
addressing a range of complaints
like the importation of Sunnis from Syria and Pakistan to staff Bahrain’s army and police
Protesters say its state policy to change the religious face of Bahrain
and provide the ruling family with a loyal Sunni force
to control the Shi’a majority…
IDLE MEN IN THE STREET
… many of whom are unemployed
YOUTH
We just hang around the streets wasting time. What else can we do? I found a job in unskilled construction labour. Foreigners come here and get jobs in our army and police. While we do unskilled construction? I’m 25 years old. When will I work? When will I establish myself?
MORE DEMONSTRATIONS ACROSS BAHRAIN
People were angry about the theft of public wealth
like Bahrain’s iconic financial harbour area
sold to Prime Minster Khalifa for one dinar.
An independent investigation found the Khalifas have acquired 40 billion dollars in public land for themselves and other VIPs- nearly 10% of the country.
VILLAGE STREETS
While many of Bahrain’s indigenous Arabs are crowded in village ghettoes
OVERCROWDED, RUN-DOWN HOME
With two and three families forced to share the same sub-standard housing
SA’EED IBRAHIM
The dishes for our food and the toilet. What can I say about this house? It’s a villa. A high-class villa.
GRAFITTI: “Khalifa stop stealing”
WOMAN ON STAGE AT PEARL ROUNDABOUT
Pearl Roundabout had given ordinary Bahrainis the right to say what they really thought.
DEAF MAN
Shi’as and Sunnis are brothers. There is nothing that separates us. We are one together.
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
We were breathing freedom like air there. It was a place people came just to breathe the freedom there…
PEOPLE MAKING SIGNS AND HOLDING THEM UP
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
… We weren’t used to the idea… That any feeling I have inside I can just write it down directly and hold it up for all to see. That feeling was amazing. (laughs)
MAN PAINTING
SHOUTING IN THE BACKGROUND: KHALIFA WE ARE HERE! KHALIFA WE ARE HERE!
WIFAQ MEETING & MATAR WORKING PHONE
But behind the scenes, the dialogue was faltering
Government hardliners were unhappy with the concessions the Crown Prince seemed willing to give
PEARL ROUNDABOUT BANNER: “Leave”
The position of many protesters
was also hardening.
ARGUMENT BETWEEN MATAR AND PROTESTERS AT ROUNDABOUT
When opposition MP Matar visited Pearl Roundabout to explain the dialogue, angry protesters made their views clear.
PROTESTER
Before we were calling for Prime Minister Khalifa to step down. Now we want the whole Khalifa family to go. We don’t want them anymore. They need to go away.
MATAR LISTENING AS PROTESTERS BEGIN TO SHOUT AT HIM AND POINT
Elected by the largest constituency in Bahrain, Matar was the closest thing Bahrain had to a representative leader.
Now his voters were angry with him just for talking to the Khalifas.
PROTESTERS CHANT:
No dialogue! No dialogue! Until the regime falls!
No dialogue! No dialogue! Until the regime falls!
GIANT STREET PROTEST
On Feb 23rd, Bahrain held its largest march in history
The world’s media recorded nearly a quarter of all citizens in the streets
calling for constitutional monarchy and elected government
Bahrain was being overrun
by a peaceful, secular democracy movement
of the majority of its people.
Unless they offered deep reform
The Khalifas would likely fall.
KING HAMAD IN SAUDI ARABIA
That day King Hamad travelled to Saudi Arabia
for a private meeting
GOLDEN DOORS OPEN AND KING ABDULLAH STEPS OUT
with the Saudi King
ARMED MOB WITH SWORDS, AXES, MACES, STICKS AND CLUBS
CHANTING: “The people want Khalifa bin Salman! The people want Khalifa bin Salman!”
Regime loyalists began forming armed groups to put an end to the protests.
CHANTING: “The people want to remove the roundabout! “The people want to remove the roundabout!
Like this one in Rifaa district, traditional residence of the King
CHANTING: “The people want to purge Salmaniyya!” “The people want to purge Salmaniyya!”
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
We see in the government, or the regime, there is two sectors. A sector calling for dialogue which is the Crown Prince. And the other sector was calling for violence.
MASKED, PLAINCLOTHES MEN WITH GUNS IN PLATELESS GOVERNMENT CAR
In the second week of March the groups fanned out across Bahrain
SCHOOL GIRL
During the class break we went on a peaceful protest, we gathered, a few girls. Next thing we know a group of naturalized foreigners were let inside the school and the door was locked. They had iron bars, wooden sticks and knives.
UNIVERSITY OF BAHRAIN
At the University of Bahrain a peaceful protest dissolved in chaos
LABEL: YOU TUBE
DRIVE BY SHOOTING
When pro-regime vigilantes showed up to silence them
MOB OUTSIDE GLASS DOOR-- STUDENTS SCREAMING
MASKED MAN ATTACKS MEDICAL STAFF
Medical staff on site were targeted.
Youth from Pearl Roundabout rushed to campus with sticks and knives
And the school descended into violence.
SHOOTING ON THE MAIN HIGHWAY
In Manama, police opened fire on a vastly expanding protest
To corral protesters back into Pearl Roundabout.
The capital was in chaos
State TV ran with the narrative
Pointing a finger at neighboring Iran, the Shi’a enemy.
BAHRAIN TV PRESENTER
This barbarian behavior is the biggest evidence that these protests are not peaceful. Who are we are supposed to dialogue with? People who want to drag Bahrain into sectarian conflict? People who are thirsty for blood? Can we say what is going on in Bahrain is a conspiracy? A conspiracy by a foreign power using the puppets they planted? The fifth column they have here in Bahrain?
HOSPITAL
PILES OF EMPTY FOOD CONTAINERS & GARBAGE
By 4am, doctors and nurses at Salmaniyya had been working 48 hours with no sleep
having treated over 1000 patients.
And clues behind the chaos were on display.
DR. ALI AL EKRI
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
All these are the IDs of the policemen that came in civilian dress… They were brought by the ambulance…They saw them, they were injured, they were helpless so they picked them and brought them here.
INTERIOR MINISTRY ID CARDS
The armed groups had not been ordinary Bahrainis,
but plainclothes employees of the interior ministry,
many of them foreign nationals.
DR. ALI AL EKRI
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
… they were attacking civilians. They were carrying weapons. They were carrying guns. They were carrying live ammunition.
SALEH LYING IN BED
Saleh, a Syrian citizen working for the Interior Ministry was picked up by an ambulance in a Shi’a village.
DR. GHASSAN DHAIF
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
They were a gang of five, they were just running around beating people… As a matter of fact he had a list of areas which he has to cover. So they were moving from one area into another.
With mobs roaming outside
PEOPLE SLEEPING IN HOSPITAL CORRIDORS
ordinary Bahrainis were taking refuge in the hospital.
DR. ALI AL EKRI
DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
We had it peaceful and they wanted it non-peaceful. They have to stop this brutal attack against the Bahraini citizens. They are innocent. No weapons. (starts to cry)
MAN WITH TRACHEA INJURY STRUGGLING
Wards were full of young men who’d never be the same again.
DISTRAUGHT, CRYING RELATIVE
Get up. Please get up.
MAJEED AHMED UNCONSCIOUS LYING ON A BED
Like Majeed Ahmed, a father of five, shot by police in the head.
DISTRAUGHT, CRYING RELATIVE
Don’t you die. You can’t die.
BREAK FOR HALF HOUR HEADLINES
PART TWO
TEXT: “A Message to the Iranian lackeys in Bahrain”
GCC TROOPS COMING OVER THE CAUSEWAY
On March 14th, 2011 Saudi Arabia led a military force of thousands into Bahrain
following weeks of street protests
BAHRAIN STATE TV PRESENTER
… This stance which has made all the people of Bahrain happy…
BAHRAIN STATE TV NAT: WOMAN UULATES…
Long live the King of Saudi Arabia!
Having fearfully watched the revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt
the Saudis would not allow one in their own back yard…
In an unprecedented move, the GCC Peninsula Shield Force
a joint military of the six Gulf states
would be used to control citizens of the gulf
ARMY ANNOUNCEMENT ON BAHRAIN STATE TV
“Every type of gathering is prohibited…”
Bahrain declared martial law
and called it a “State of National Safety”
“…in every part of the Kingdom of Bahrain.”
STATE TV DISCO OPENER
And state TV aired phone calls from mysterious viewers like “Mother of Khalifa”
“MOTHER OF KHALIFA”
This is a special call to King Hamad Bin Salman, my father, to urgently send the army to rescue the Sunni people from Salmaniyya Hospital. Go for the sake of the doctors! Order the army now. Order the army to rescue them from Salmaniya hospital… They are going to kill them in front of everybody!... they are taking people as hostages… (BAHRAIN TV PRESENTER BEGINS TO CRY)
SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL-- FACES FILLED WITH DREAD
At Salmaniyya Hospital Sunni and Shi’a doctors gathered
to refute the charges leveled against them.
DR. NIHAD SHIRAWI
SUNNI DOCTOR
We treat our patients regardless Sunni or Shi’a. Ok? And we are not hostages here. We came from our house to help Bahraini people regardless. And also non-Bahraini. Anyone who comes to this hospital injured- Bahraini, non-Bahraini, regardless their religion, regardless anything we are treating them
DR. ALI AL EKRI
SHI’A DOCTOR
The whole country is under military custody. The military is ruling Bahrain now. So they want to give an excuse, especially the king also mentioned that the hospital became a terrorist camp. He wants to invade this hospital.
KHADIJA HAMMADI
SUNNI STATE TV PRESENTER
Unfortunately state TV has fabricated a lot of facts about events in Bahrain. We don’t want to talk about Sunnis and Shi’as. We are all Bahraini patriots. And anyone who says this revolution is only a Shi’a revolution is a liar. This is a Bahraini revolution first and foremost and we will take back our rights in this land God willing.
HOSPITAL OPERATING THEATERS
Defiantly, Salmaniyya threw open its surgical theaters
and every part of the hospital to al Jazeera.
DOCTOR
We’ve been here since morning just performing surgeries back to back… continuous operation, all lethal injuries to the chest, to the abdomen, to the blood vessels, to the brain… we are just trying to save whoever arrives here.
DOCTOR
This is a bullet on the retina… he is removing this bullet.
Without sleep
accused of high crimes
doctors and nurses worked throughout the night
to save limbs, and lives
BODIES IN THE MORGUE
HASSAN MUSHAIMA
OPPOSITION POLITICAL LEADER
Unfortunately, there is a conspiracy between the Bahraini government and the GCC group of Gulf countries, which have never stood with their people. Unfortunately, the GCC has been used to abuse the people and its purpose is for leaders to hold onto their power.
LAST NIGHT AT PEARL ROUNDABOUT
At pearl roundabout a cold wind whipped the camp
Thousands of foreign troops were in the country
and people sensed their fate had turned
Leaders asked the women to leave.
WOMAN IN SILHOUETTE
The women refused. All of them stood and started shouting very powerful slogans that we are going to remain in the roundabout and we are going to be present … (starts to cry)
PROTESTERS SLEEPING IN THE ROUNDABOUT EARLY MORNING
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
I was sleeping there that night and around… 5 o’clock I noticed there is no signal… I asked lots of people there… Do you have signal in your mobiles?’ They say ‘no.’ And here it clicked like a warning for us. There is something will happen.
TANKS GATHERING NEAR THE SHORE
SOUNDS OF PEOPLE SHOUTING BEGIN TO RISE
On March 16th, Saudi backed army and police moved to clear Pearl Roundabout
And crush the democratic dreams of the movement in Bahrain.
WATER CANNONS BLOW DOWN THE TENTS
SMOKE CROSSING THE PEARL
It was a defining moment in the Arab uprisings
A counter-revolution.
And the United States and Arab world stayed silent.
PEOPLE RUNNING AWAY
Rejected and betrayed
protesters ran from the roundabout.
PEOPLE KILLING POLICE
On the way out, some of them murdered two policemen
running them over with a car
then kicking their corpses.
PEOPLE RUNNING AWAY
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
We thought Salmaniyya will be fine to go. They are not going to shoot us. To not do anything to us if we are in the hospital. I mean the safest place to go it is a hospital all over the world
POLICE AND ARMY DESCENDING ON SALMANIYYA HOSPTIAL AND A HEALTH CENTER
Salmaniyya was not fine to go.
Helicopters, tanks and police descended on the hospital
Treating it like a crime scene.
VOICE OF STAFF DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
They came and they surrounded Salmaniyya medical complex… Nobody was allowed to come in. Or to go out, not even the ambulance. The ambulances were captured inside Salmaniyya and not allowed to the hot spots to help the injured.
VOICE OF STAFF DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
Inside the hospital we were, we were terrified…
MALE NURSE DRAGGED BEHIND A HEDGE AND BEATEN
VOICE OF STAFF DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
We could see, see they were dragging a few people. One of them was a staff nurse, male staff nurse, dressed with their white uniform… They dragged them to the parking there and beat them so hardly by their hands, by their feet, by their sticks in their hands...
SHRIEK
SMOKE AND GUNFIRE ON THE STREETS
VOICE OF STAFF DOCTOR- SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
We are hearing the gunshots outside and we are seeing there are some smoke coming from the roundabout and news coming that other villages are being attacked but we received no, no patients.
INJURED PROTESTERS FLOODING INTO HEALTH CENTER
Patients were flooding small village clinics
but they were not equipped for serious cases
and soon closed by police.
INJURED PROTESTERS IN A MOSQUE
The wounded spilled into mosques
TANKS GOING INTO VILLAGES
The army moved to surround Shi’a villages
Enclosing them with checkpoints
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
When I reached to the exit of my area, I found tanks, I found soldiers with heavy guns. What happened in Bahrain? Are we in a war?
BAHRAINI ARMY ENCAMPMENT BESIDE CITY CENTER SHOPPING MALL IN DOWNTOWN MANAMA
WOMAN IN SILHOUETTE
We tried to call overseas… but all the phone lines were cut. We tried to go outside but all the streets were blocked.
RIOT POLICE ENTERING VILLAGE
Then thousands of riot police entered the villages
YOUTH PUSHING BARRICADES INTO THE STREET
CLASHES
YOUTH FIRED ON AND RUNNING
THROWING MOLOTOV COCKTAILS
SCREAMING FAMILY RETREATS INDOORS AS BULLETS SOUND OFF
INJURED YOUTH ON FLOOR INSIDE HOME
VOLUNTEER MEDIC
We cannot take him anywhere because all the way is blocked by the military and the police… The main hospital which is Salmaniyya Hospital been halted by military which we cannot go there… Health center already closed and the police already there.
POLICE BLAST PEOPLE BACK INTO THE VILLAGES
By nightfall, people were corralled into their homes
PRAYERS & POLICE SIRENS
Then the mass arrests began
Most of the country’s opposition leadership were taken away
And over 1000 protesters arrested
SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL EXTERIOR AT NIGHT
At Salmaniyya commandos entered the patient wards, where protesters lay injured from previous days.
MASKED, ARMED SOLDIERS INSIDE SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
The country’s main hospital was now under military occupation.
VOICE OF FORMER PATIENT - SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
They were beating us on our heads, using their guns on our chests. They used shoes to hit us.
VOICE OF FORMER PATIENT - SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
It was like we were in a football field. Everyone was screaming and falling down and being kicked. Not just riot police came, but also thugs from the intelligence services. They took our fingerprints as if we are criminals.
VOICE OF FORMER PATIENT - SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
During this whole time they were insulting our religious beliefs because we are Shi’a. “You are grave worshippers.” “God curse you.” “You don’t deserve to live.” One raised a gun to my face and said “Are you proud you went to the roundabout?” “Are you proud you went to the roundabout?”
EMPTY PEARL ROUNDABOUT AT NIGHT
WOMAN IN SILHOUETTE
I feel really alone. Whether it was a democratic country or an authoritarian country, all of them acted the same when it came to us. I discovered that my humanity is a subject for discussion. Should I be killed in the street or not be killed? Based on the interests of the United States or Saudi Arabia or other countries. (wipes a tear) It’s the killing of a dream.
CLEARING THE PEARL WITH BULLDOZERS
ABDUL RUSOOL’S BRUISED, BLOODY BODY
Bodies began appearing in Bahrain’s streets
beaten to death
and dumped on a road side
like Abdul Rusool who disappeared at a checkpoint
SCREAMING RELATIVES
MOHAMMED AL TAJIR
HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER
We are in chaos. A lot of lost people have been reported. But one day after another we are finding out that some of these lost people are not detainees. They are killed people
MOURNING RELATIVES
MOHAMMED AL TAJIR
HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER
It is total unrest. It is, it is fear everywhere. We are afraid to go outside our houses. We are afraid to practise our job. We don’t know where to go, what to do. We are worried about our families, about our houses, about our cars. You can’t pass in any road without a checkpoint.
Not long after this interview, Muhammad al Tajir was arrested.
LONELY STREETS
The people retreated
And state TV had a message for them.
BAHRAIN STATE TV
The work of these traitors will not pass without punishment. The long hand of justice will follow them wherever they go. And no matter how long they stay in their darkness, the eyes of the security are open. And justice will have no mercy on them. It will track them down.
STATE TV TALK SHOW
Starting with sportsmen
Bahrain TV ran a campaign to name & punish prominent Bahrainis
TALK SHOW GUEST
If you’re not with the regime, you’re against the regime.
National football stars were called on the phone and shamed on live TV
TALK SHOW HOST
Do you consider the fact you went to the roundabout a mistake?
TALK SHOW GUEST
You didn’t see the picture of his majesty the King on the ground? What’s your excuse now? Do you think what you did was wrong?
TALK SHOW GUEST
You participated in something illegal. You asked for things that are not rights.
Players were called out as national traitors
because they attended democracy protests
TALK SHOW GUEST
You lost your allegiance to this country.
TALK SHOW HOST
Everyone who even just tried to talk about overthrowing the regime is going to be held to account.
TALK SHOW GUEST
No forgiveness. A lot of masks have fallen.
ALAA HUBAIL MAKING A GOAL
At the end of this talk show star striker Alaa Hubail and 24 other sports heroes were arrested.
FACEBOOK PAGE: TOGETHER TO UNMASK THE TRAITORS
From television the witch-hunt moved to Facebook
TEXT:
“Together to Unmask the Shi’a Traitors”
Sites like Together to Unmask the Shi’a Traitors
Called on Bahrainis to identify
TEXT:
“Names of the traitors wanted”
their countrymen for arrest
because they went to Pearl Roundabout.
TEXT:
“This girl is wanted”
Visitors were told “write the traitor’s name and work place
TEXT:
“Salmaniyya Traitor”
and let the government take care of the rest”
Lists of names were provided
And targets checked off.
TEXT:
“Arrested”
State agencies appear to have used these sites to solicit evidence from the public.
TEXT:
“All of them are wanted”
AGAINST AYAT AL QURMEZI FACEBOOK PAGE
TEXT:
“Against Ayat al Qurmezi”
This page was a virtual lynch mob
Focused on a 20 year old girl named Ayat Al Qurmezi
TEXT:
The people want the death of Ayat!
The people want the corpse of Ayat!
AYAT READING HER POEM ON YOU TUBE UPSOT
She’d read a poem criticizing Khalifa and the King at Pearl Roundabout
The page asked thousands to participate in defaming her honor
TEXT:
Spit on Ayat al Qurmezi the infidel bastard.
Spit !!!!
I spit on you whore!
And demanded her arrest and torture in prison
TEXT:
God willing the security forces smash her mouth and teeth.
AYAT’S BEDROOM WITH BROKEN DOOR
It wasn’t long before they got their wish
Masked commandos broke down the doors of her family home and took her to prison
SA’ADA HASSAN
MOTHER OF AYAT AL QURMEZI
This is the first time something like this has happened. Young girls taken from their homes, arrested and we don't know where they are… What we’ve heard is that Ayat was tortured and put in the military hospital… I'm going to die from worrying about her. If I could only hear her voice over the phone then I could just reassure myself she is OK…
AYAT’S TELEVISED APOLOGY
After three months in prison Ayat surfaced for this apology on State TV
Which the family says was obtained by electric shock torture and forcing her to open her mouth while army and police officers spat in it.
AYAT AL QURMEZI
“I apologize for what I said.”
STATE TV DISCO WORLD SPINS
State TV began airing a series of confessions from prisoners
ALI SAQR CONFESSION ON STATE TV
Like this one from a man named Ali Saqr
saying moderate opposition MP Matar Matar had personally ordered him to kill policemen.
After the taping, the Interior Ministry released Ali Saqr…
DEAD BODY OF ALI SAQR
to the morgue
his body bearing marks of torture
BAHRAIN STATE TV REPORT ON SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
The security measures taken by the righteous government of Bahrain to restore stability to Salmaniyya Hospital, were like salve on a wound and a very delicate breeze that refreshed the place
While state television was airing reports like this
OUT OF CONTROL PATIENT SCREAMING AND BEING RESTRAINED
Salmaniyya staff say injured protesters were captives in hospital wards 62 and 63
Denied medical treatment
BLOOD ON THE FLOOR
and beaten daily to obtain confessions
VOICE OF FORMER PATIENT, SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
The number of injured was more than a hundred. All of us were tortured because we were all in one wing. The riot police were patrolling up and down this wing. They had it surrounded.
VOICE OF FORMER PATIENT, SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
They have concentrated on people who had been shot with army bullets. And they said to them, this is not a bullet, we only used shotguns. They keep repeating this.
HOSPITAL FILES AND X-RAYS OF PEOPLE SHOT
DOCTOR, SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
They are beating the patients… they are taking the files, all the documents for each patient, they are asking for all the documents and the X-rays… The evidence that proves that these patients were admitted because of the shooting and the police attack.
MEDICAL STAFF WORKING
After confiscating patient files,
police began arresting staff: 47 doctors, nurses and medics
Including nearly everyone who spoke to Al Jazeera.
VOICE OF STAFF DOCTOR, SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
Treating injured people and speaking in public about injured people is a crime in their eyes…
DOCTOR NIHAD IN TEARS
… I was there when Dr Nihad, I mean the day when she was taken… the same day another doctor also disappeared. They will call them into the administration for investigation and they will not come back.
VOICE OF STAFF DOCTOR, SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
They just want to hide whatever we saw. They don’t want other people or the outside world to know the truth, what we saw and what we know. Anybody that might tell, he might be targeted by them.
MINISTRY PRESS CONFERENCE
On May 3rd, Bahrain’s Justice Minister announced a list of charges against imprisoned medical staff, based he said, on a mountain of evidence.
KHALID BIN ALI AL KHALIFA
MINISTER OF JUSTICE
Unfortunately some of the doctors fabricated injuries.
The minister said doctors would be charged with assault leading to death.
ABDUL RIDHA STRUGGLING
Because their surgery had killed patient Abdul Ridha
By failing to save him from the army bullet in his head
VOICE OF STAFF MEDIC, SALMANIYYA HOSPITAL
The truth comes from Salmaniyya Hospital. It’s the only public hospital in Bahrain… if the army and police can prohibit this truth, then the world will never know.
FUNERAL
But the truth was surfacing
a parade of bodies
from the prisons and the streets
The only gathering allowed to the people
was a funeral.
Amidst the trauma
Shi’a mobs formed to punish the only people they could
ASIAN WORKERS WATCH FUNERAL GOING BY
The impoverished Asian immigrants living among them
ASIAN MEN BEATEN TO DEATH
Simple workers
Suspected of being policemen
SMASHING RELIGIOUS INSTALLATIONS
In early April, Bahrain started a campaign to destroy Shi’a places of worship.
GRAFITT ON MOSQUE DOOR: “Long live King Hamad”
Demolishing 35 Mosques.
The government said they were illegally built
though many had been standing for decades
STILLS OF HOUSE RAIDS
GRAFITTI ON BEDROOM WALL: “The Khalifa ruling family is a crown on your heads.”
Police launched a campaign of house raids in Shi’a neighborhoods
When a raid ruined the home of journalist Karim Fakhrawi he went to his local police station to file a report
BODY OF KARIM FAKHRAWI- SCREAMING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
where he was jailed and tortured to death.
OBAMA SPEECH REGARDING US MILITARY INTERVENTION IN LIBYA, 28 MARCH 2011
BARACK OBAMA
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different… Because wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States.
EXTERIOR OF US EMBASSY IN MANAMA
But when it came to Bahrain
The champions of freedom were silent
MATAR EATING LUNCH WITH HIS FAMILY
MATAR MATAR
OPPOSITION MP
I don’t ask the United States to help. I believe the United States has obligations here. They classify us as a strategic ally. And they are having their fifth fleet here in our country. They should say they are supporting democracy. They should say it clearly.
Not long after this interview
EMPTY STREETS
masked men pulled Matar off the street,
and took him to prison.
GRAFITTI: “Death to the House of Saud”
There were no international journalists in Bahrain
STATE TV PRESENTER
Treason is a filthy ocean and the traitor so filthy, he is not made filthier by the swamp he is drowning in.
There was only the word of state TV
THE DEMOLITION OF PEARL ROUNDABOUT
When the government demolished Pearl Roundabout
State TV censored the moment of collapse.
because it killed a worker.
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
When I’m sleeping a lot of times I dream…
SLEEPING BOY AND PEARL
…that we are returning to the pearl.
WOMEN WALKING TO THE ROUNDABOUT AT SUNSET
To this day I still dream it is there.
PEARL ROUNDABOUT FILLED WITH PEOPLE
…I don’t feel it has ever been broken.
FACES OF PROTESTERS AT PEARL ROUNDABOUT
State TV had been right about something
At Pearl Roundabout all the masks had fallen.
To reveal the authentic face of a nation
A country is not its rulers
But its people
and this was a place
where, for once, the story was theirs
MAN IN SILHOUETTE
There was no fear from anything because they felt, they felt the freedom soul. They touched that soul. Of freedom. This is the point the regime in Bahrain, they don’t understand. The Bahraini people touched the soul of freedom. They won’t go back. They won’t go back.
NIGHT FALLING IN THE VILLAGES
ALLAHU AKBAR
Each night the people of Bahrain go to their rooftops
And call out
To God and each other
The world’s cameras have left
And their revolution remains as it began
a people shouting in the dark.
TEXT SLATE: Arrested in Bahrain
Dr. Ali Al Ekri
Imprisoned and awaiting trial
Dr. Ghassan Dhaif
Imprisoned and awaiting trial
Dr. Nihad Shirawi
Imprisoned 4 weeks, now awaiting trial
Matar Matar, Parliamentarian
Imprisoned and awaiting trial
Ibrahim Sharif, Sunni Political Leader
Sentenced to 5 years in prison
Hassan Mushaima, political leader
Sentenced to life in prison
Muhammad al Tajir, Human Rights Lawyer
Imprisoned and awaiting trial
Alaa Hubail, footballer
Imprisoned for 12 weeks, now awaiting trial
Ayat al Qurmezi, poet
Sentenced to 1 year in prison
Released following international pressure
Abdul Hadi al Khawaja, Human Rights Activist
Sentenced to life in prison
Abdul Jalil Singace, political leader
Sentenced to life in prison
CROWD CHANTING AND RAISING FISTS
Along with over 1,000 other Bahrainis jailed for attending democracy protests
DEAF CHILDREN DELIVER MESSAGE NOT REQUIRING TRANSLATION