Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Chapter IV — Narrative of Events of February and March 2011
and the Al Menbar Progressive Democratic Society. The communiqué
included the following statements:
a. The youth of the 14 February movement are invited to attend
a march titled “Down with the 2002 Constitution” at 4:00
p.m. the next day, which will begin in the Seef district and
proceed towards the GCC Roundabout.
b. The youth are applauded for not consenting to the calls that
were issued to organise a march on the Royal Palace in Riffa
the next day at the same time as the “Down with the 2002
Constitution” demonstration.
c. The prudence of the youth is also applauded for not agreeing
to march to the Riffa district, because the situation would
have certainly descended into sectarian clashes.
d. Everyone in Bahrain is urged not to allow the situation to slip
into a confrontation on sectarian grounds, and any attempts to
provoke such clashes must be resisted.
Friday, 11 March 2011
440. Two major demonstrations were held after Friday prayers. The first
began in the Seef district and proceeded towards the GCC Roundabout. This
protest focused on the demand to abrogate the 2002 Constitution. The other
demonstration, which was significantly smaller, attempted to enter the Riffa
district.
441. The early hours of the day witnessed several incidents of vandalism
and assaults on individuals and private property. Some of these incidents
were reported in the Al-Riffa Al-Gharby and East Riffa neighbourhoods,
which are within close proximity of the Royal Palace. Other areas affected by
these incidents included the Ma’ameer industrial district, the Zayed
neighbourhood, A’Ali and Salamabad.
442. Despite the call by the major opposition political societies not to
march toward the Royal Palace, people began to gather in the areas and
neighbourhoods surrounding Riffa after Friday prayers. The largest of these
gatherings was at the Sheikh Issa mosque where 400 individuals began
walking towards the Sa’aa Roundabout in Riffa, which is in the immediate
vicinity of the Royal Palace and the Court of HRH the Crown Prince.
Gradually, more people joined the demonstration from neighbouring districts,
particularly from A’Ali where by 15:20 around 2,500 individuals began
marching from the A’Ali driving school towards the Sa’aa Roundabout.
443. Between 15:30 and 15:40, the protesters had reached the barricades
that the MoI had set up on the Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Road to deny people
access to the Sa’aa Roundabout. The number of protesters exceeded 3,000,
and many had begun to leave the road to bypass the MoI barricade by walking
through the areas adjacent to the road. To pre-empt this, the MoI had placed a
barbed wire fence across the empty land adjacent to the road.
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