Demanding equal rights in Bahrain

Manama, Bahrain - Abdul Amir Al-Basri looks sullen and defeated, with a deep black bruise below his right eye, a large bump on the top of his head, and further evidence of police mistreatment on his right hip and ankle.
A driver for the Almoayyed Group, one of Bahrain's biggest conglomerates, Al-Basri missed at least one week of work, as he was detained in Hod Al-Jaf prison on the island of Muharraq near the airport. He says he spent four days there, along with two other detainees who were also picked up on the morning of February 17, when Manama police raided peaceful protesters camped out at Pearl Roundabout.
Authorities accused Al-Basri, 37, of monitoring the security services on behalf of the protesters. He admits to being an informal organiser for the anti-government demonstrators who occupy the symbolic heart of the city. But he denies that he was spying on the police. His case is illustrative of tensions that were significantly inflamed by last week's clashes.
Al-Basri has suffered worse brutality than most Bahrainis who side with the opposition. But his case is representative of the gripes that predominantly Shia anti-government protesters harbor against Bahrain's ruling clique.
For him, political issues top the list, but economic problems are not far behind. And socioeconomic disparities between the Sunni elite and Shia protesters are accentuated by sectarian differences. Many believe the government is keen to play up the religious rift as part of a divide-and-conquer strategy.
Shia are a majority of Bahraini nationals, though citizens are only half of the country's approximately 1.2 million population - the other half being migrant workers, mostly from South Asia.
Bahrain's anti-government camp is calling for a genuine constitutional democracy in which "the royal family is no longer a ruling family, but just a royal family", says Ibrahim Sharif, leader of the secular-liberal Wa'ad party and the most prominent Sunni member of the opposition.
The protesters are requesting a new prime minister who is popularly elected and a bicameral parliament - with newly enhanced powers - that is fully elected. Currently, the upper house of parliament is selected by the king and dominates the lower house, elected by the people as per the 2002 constitution.
"We don't yet know whether [the government] is serious and whether the principle of the dialogue is to end up with a constitution where the people elect 100 per cent of the parliament," Sharif tells Al Jazeera. "If not, then there’s no point sitting at the table."
Core structural changes - if enacted - could pacify the protesters, who complain that about half of cabinet posts are filled by members of the Khalifa family
At Bahrain’s protests, "Down, down, Khalifa" (in English) is a common slogan. While hard-line protesters want to boot the whole family, every demonstrator is passionate about the ouster of Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who assumed office in 1971.
In his address to the nation on February 18, accomodating Crown Prince Salman, whose job is more secure than the prime minister's, said, "Youths are going out on the street believing that they have no future in the country ... But this country is for you all, for the Shia and Sunnis".
Despite this claim, protesters say the situation on the ground is different. The Bahraini security forces are mostly made up of Sunnis from countries like Jordan, Yemen and Pakistan - allegedly including those who opened fire on Bahrainis in their own capital.
ΠΗΓΗ:http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/02/201122711137430846.html