Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Chapter IV — Narrative of Events of February and March 2011
is for Bahrainis of all backgrounds to unite and enter into an
immediate dialogue.
255. In a sermon broadcasted that night on the Ahlul bayt television
channel, the influential Bahraini Shia cleric and figure Sheikh Hadi
Almadrassi, who lives in exile in Iraq, described the ongoing demonstrations
in Bahrain as an opportunity for the people to remove a corrupt, oppressive
and backward ruling family that had been forcefully ruling Bahrain for almost
250 years. He then outlined the following demands and advice to the people
of Bahrain:
a. Demonstrators should remain steadfast and insist on the
removal of the ruling family.
b. The people should not believe promises from the GoB and
should reject HRH the Crown Prince’s call for dialogue
because the 250-year history of the ruling Al Khalifa family
has proven the futility of dialogue.
c. The military units controlling the GCC Roundabout should
withdraw immediately.
d. The GoB should release the bodies of 35 people who
[allegedly] died during the clearing of roundabout.
e. The only way to achieve the demands of the protesters is to
violently confront the ruling family and the GoB because that
is the only language that they understand.
f. The martyrs that have fallen are with the martyrs of the
historical Islamic battles of Badr, Ohoud and Karbala [he
described the situation in Bahrain as a second Karbala].
256. Later in the evening, HM King Hamad asked HRH the Crown Prince
to initiate a dialogue with all political parties in Bahrain. A statement released
by the Royal Palace announced that HM the King had granted HRH the
Crown Prince “all the powers to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of all the
gracious citizens of Bahrain.” In response, Mr Abdul Jalil Khalil Ibrahim, a
leading Al Wefaq member, announced that before accepting any offer of
dialogue the GoB must withdraw its troops from the GCC Roundabout and the
Council of Ministers must resign.
257. The Bahrain Teachers’ Society issued a statement to reaffirm its
intention to organise a strike in front of schools on 20 February and to call on
parents not to send their children to schools to avoid students being hurt if
security forces decided to confront the planned strike.
258. Throughout the night, incidents of assault by unidentified individuals
against private citizens were recorded. Cases of vandalism were also reported
in numerous neighbourhoods of Manama and surrounding villages. For
example, at 19:30 a group of people entered the Crepes Café on Al Budaiya
Road in the Babar district, threatening the customers and ordering them all to
leave. Similarly, at 20:00 there were reports that some 40 individuals carrying
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