Bahrain Tamarod

Bahrain Tamarod (also spelled Bahrain Tamarrod; Arabic: تمرد البحرين, romanized: tamarrud al-Baḥrayn, "Bahrain Rebellion"), also known as August 14 Rebellion, was a three-day protest campaign in Bahrain that began on 14 August 2013, the forty-second anniversary of Bahrain Independence Day and the two-and-a-half-year anniversary of the Bahraini uprising. The call for protests had started in early July following and inspired by the Egyptian Tamarod Movement that led to the removal of President Mohamed Morsi. Calling for a "free and democratic Bahrain", Tamarod activists, who mobilized social networking websites, said their movement was peaceful, national and non-sectarian. They called for gradual peaceful civil disobedience starting from 14 August. The movement gained the support of opposition societies and human rights activists, including those languishing in prison. The government however, repeatedly warned against the protests, promising those who participate with legal action and forceful confrontation. Rights activists and media reported that authorities had stepped up their crackdown campaigns in the weeks leading to the protests.

In late July, the king called for a parliamentary special session. The pro-government parliament submitted 22 recommendations, some of them calling for stripping those convicted of "terrorist crimes" from their nationality and banning almost all protests in the capital, Manama. Despite outcries from the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the king endorsed the recommendations and issued two decrees to their effect. The Prime Minister asked his ministers to carry out the recommendations immediately and issued several warnings against protests. In the following days, the government arrested three photographers, two bloggers, a lawyer and a politician, prevented human rights activists and journalists from entering the country, deported an American teacher and reportedly encircled entire areas with barbed wire. The government denied arrests had targeted activists. A few days before 14 August, activists said they had gathered tens of thousands of signatures in support of highly anticipated protests.

The day of 14 August witnessed heavy deployment of security forces, which used tear gas and birdshot against hundreds to thousands of protesters who gathered in several locations throughout the country. Many shops were closed in response to Tamarod's call for a general strike. Opposition activists and media reported over 60 demonstrations throughout the country. The opposition and several citizens accused authorities of cutting Internet connections. The government blocked a website covering the protests, but activists and citizen journalists provided live coverage on social media websites, and Anonymous targeted a government website. At least twenty protesters were arrested and ten injured, two critically, activists said. The tightened security measures have succeeded in preventing large-scale protests in Manama. On 15 and 16 August, smaller protests occurred in several locations which police dispersed without injuries.

Tamarod and Al Wefaq opposition society praised the protests and said they were successful. The government of Bahrain however said protests did not affect everyday life. The United States said it supported freedom of expression and assembly, and voiced its concern at the chances of violence. Analysts were divided between those who expected protests to be huge and those that did not see them having any chance. They were also divided about the reasons behind the absence of mass protests in Manama, some blaming it on the security forces, others on protest organizers.