Bahrainis mourn teenager 'hit in head'

Thousands of Bahrainis gather in the eastern town of Sitra to hold a funeral procession for a teenager who has been recently killed by regime forces, Press TV reports. On Sunday, Saudi-backed regime forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the mourners in Sitra and injured several people. Mourners had gathered to honor 15-year-old Sayyed Hashem Saeed who, according to the main opposition group al-Wefaq, was “hit in the head” and killed during an anti-regime demonstration in Sitra on Saturday. Dozens of people have been killed and thousands more have been arrested or fired from their jobs in Bahrain since the beginning of the uprising in February 2011. On November 23, 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) issued a report saying the Manama regime had used “excessive force, including the extraction of forced confessions against detainees,” in response to demonstrations in the country. In a statement released by the state-run Information Affairs Authority on Saturday, new Bahraini police chief Tariq al-Hassan said, “We are going to find 500 men and women from all local communities in Bahrain to reinforce our community service police and they will be our conduit with the community as well.” “I am determined to make people understand that we have a responsibility to insure that whoever breaks the law will be held accountable, whether it is a private citizen or a policeman,” Hassan added. Many health workers, teachers, opposition figures and human rights activists in Bahrain are still facing trial or serving prison terms over participation in demonstrations. Bahrain authorities announced on December 29, 2011 that five police officers accused of torturing two detainees to death would face trial later in January. In December 2011, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa invited “all parties, including those in opposition, to post an adviser in his office to monitor the reconciliation and reform process” in the country. However, Bahraini anti-regime protesters have expressed their determination to support “the cause of the martyrs of the revolution” despite King Hamad's decision.