Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
who had participated and announcing that they would hold a mass rally the
following Friday under the title “Down with the GoB”.
354. Later that evening, at around 18:00, Mr Hassan Almeshaima
participated in a protest in the car park adjacent to the entrance to the
Emergency Section at SMC. Participants erected a number of tents offering
refreshments and set up a stage from which Mr Almeshaima and others,
including Mr Abduljalil Khalil, gave statements about the ongoing situation in
Bahrain.
355. At 21:00, groups of protesters began to move from the GCC
Roundabout towards the nearby Bahrain Financial Harbour, which includes a
number of modern high-rise buildings that house international consulting
companies and financial services firms. Protesters set up small tents in the
vicinity of the harbour and began demonstrating at traffic junctures in the area.
Political leaders, including Dr Abduljalil Alsankis, joined the protesters at the
harbour later in the evening. By midnight, however, Sheikh Mohamed Habib
Alsafaf met with the protesters and convinced them to vacate the area and to
return to the GCC Roundabout.
356. During the day, Al Wefaq issued a paper entitled, “A Vision for the
Political Crisis in Bahrain”. The document included the following points:
a. The ongoing crisis is a political conflict, and not a sectarian
conflict. It has no relation to religion, sect or ethnicity. It is a
conflict between those who want to monopolise power and
those who want the people to participate in governance by
deciding the nature of the government and choosing their
Prime Minister, which would allow the people to hold those in
government accountable.
b. The ruling authority is using sectarianism to protect its
political interests.
c. The other problems relating to economic life, human rights
and living standards all stem from the original political
problems.
d. Al Wefaq does not aspire to create a theocracy, but aims to
establish a civil State in Bahrain in which the people are able
to freely choose their government.
e. The roadmap to a solution should be based on the abrogation
of the 2002 Constitution, the cancellation of the electoral
system and the election of a Constituent Assembly on the
basis of a single electoral district that encompasses the entire
country. These elections should be held under the supervision
of a national commission and in the presence of international
observers.
f. The basic principles of this solution are as follows:
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