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Timeline: The 2011 Uprising in Bahrain and What's Happened since

2021-02-17 - 6:47 am

Bahrain Mirror- Reuters: Here is a look back at Bahrain's pro-democracy uprising 10 years ago and what happened in the Sunni-led Gulf Arab kingdom since.

- 2011

Feb. 14 - Anti-government "Day of Rage" inspired by popular upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia. One protester is killed. The next day another person dies when police clash with mourners at the protester's funeral.

Three days later Bahrain police storm Pearl Roundabout, the focal point of protests, on a Manama square, to clear activists camped out there. At least seven people are killed.

Later in February, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa says "the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain."

March 3 - Clashes break out between minority Sunni and majority Shi'ite Muslims, the first direct confrontation between the two communities since February's large-scale protests.

Almost 10 days later around 1,000 Saudi troops deploy in Bahrain at the ruling family's request to protect government facilities after mainly Shi'ite protesters overrun police and block roads. The United Arab Emirates also sends forces.

Bahrain declares martial law and its forces crack down on protesters, clearing hundreds from the camp that had become their symbol. The military imposes a curfew across most parts of Manama and bans all public gatherings.

April - Crown prince says he is committed to reform but warns there will be "no leniency" for those trying to divide Bahrain.

May 31 - King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa calls for talks on reform involving all parties "without preconditions". The next day Bahrain lifts the state of emergency.

June 11 - Up to 10,000 people attend a rally for political reforms in the first large demonstration since the state crushed protests.

July 2 - Talks between opposition and pro-government groups begin. In all, there are 300 participants in the dialogue, 35 of them from the opposition.

Two weeks later, the main Shi'ite opposition group al-Wefaq says it is pulling out as its views are not being taken seriously.

Aug. 15 - Bahrain criticizes Wefaq's decision to boycott parliamentary by-elections.

Sept. 24 - Fewer than one in five voters cast ballots in by-elections as the Shi'ite majority largely boycotts polls in protest against the crackdown. Wefaq walks out of 18 seats.

- 2012

January - The king announces constitutional amendments, giving parliament more powers of scrutiny.

February - Protesters march in Manama, trying to retake Pearl Roundabout, since renamed al-Farouq Junction. Police stop them with teargas and rubber bullets.

Over ensuing years, authorities accuse scores of people of militancy in a series of mass trials, which rights activists say have included mostly peaceful opposition members.

The government denies deliberately targeting the Shi'ite political opposition, saying it is only acting to preserve Bahrain's national security.

- 2016

June - Bahrain orders al-Wefaq closed, accusing it of fomenting sectarian unrest and of having links to a foreign power, in an apparent reference to Iran.

July - Bahrain revokes citizenship of Ayatollah Isa Qassim, spiritual leader of the kingdom's Shi'ite Muslim majority.

- 2017

January - Bahrain executes three Shi'ite Muslim men convicted of killing three policemen in a bomb attack. Activists call it a "black day".

July - Bahrain court sentences rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab to two years in jail for making "false" statements about Bahraini authorities. The following year, he receives a five-year jail term over posts criticising Saudi Arabia's role in the Yemen war and accusing Bahraini authorities of torture.

Rajab is released in 2020 after a court agrees to pass an alternative non-custodial sentence.

- 2018

Bahrain introduces legislation allowing courts to convert jail terms into non-custodial sentences, including community service, electronic monitoring and repairing criminal damage.

November - Bahrainis vote in parliamentary polls from which opposition groups have been barred.

- 2019

April - Bahrain's king reinstates nationality to hundreds of people stripped of citizenship. The list, reviewed by Reuters, does not include major opposition and activist figures.

July - Protests break out after the execution of two Shi'ite Muslim activists convicted on terrorism-related charges in a mass trial. Police fire tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

- 2020

September - Bahrain follows the UAE in establishing ties with Israel in U.S.-brokered deals. The move is rejected by Bahraini opposition groups, including cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, now living in Iran.

November - Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa dies. The crown prince becomes premier.

Arabic Version