In Bahrain, government forces used tear gas and stun grenades Thursday to disperse a rally of hundreds of people protesting the Sunni monarchy. Among those detained was
Zainab Alkhawaja, the daughter of a leading Bahraini activist who was sentenced to life in prison following his arrest earlier this year. Zainab Alkhawaja, who has appeared on Democracy Now!, has led protests to call for her father’s release. The crackdown on the protest comes just as the U.S. State Department’s top human rights envoy, Michael Posner, visited Bahrain.