الامم المتحدة تنتقد "الاستخدام المفرط" للقوة من قبل قوات الامن في البحرين

good riddance Farsi thugs..... they have a wonderful country but they are intent on making it a follower of iran....

There are a number of blatant contradictions here. Firstly, the claim that 30 people died from tear gas, when this is closer to the total number of people who have died in the disturbances, is odd. If most of the deaths over the past year are accidental tear gas deaths then this rather undermines the opposition rhetoric about a brutal regime killing its citizens.

According to Iranian propaganda channels like Press TV and Al-Alam TV, there have been no natural deaths in Bahrain over the last year and everyone who dies quietly in their beds has been logged as a tear gas victim (although in some cases the elderly and young children have been tragic victims). So the UN should be careful of whose statistics they use.

The UN official is quoted as talking about a “rising” death toll in recent months. To the best of my knowledge only one person has died in the last three months (9 March – tear gas). In what manner is this a rising toll.

I went away and did some research on this, considering that the UN statistics contracticed my own understanding so sharply.

However, looking at the statistics on which these claims were based, my confusion increased. A main source is the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights – I’d hope the UN realizes that this is a major opposition grouping, not an impartial observer.

Another set of statistics are held by the presumably more credible Physicians for Human Rights organization. However, if you inquire about their sources; they turn out to be other organizations (largely BCHR) or the media (Press TV being the main media reporting on such issues).

The curious thing is that the number of alleged deaths from tear gas, according to these sources, has increased to around six each month for 2012; while the statistics claimed 0-2 tear gas related deaths for most of 2011. Why the sudden epidemic of victims?

Over the same period, only one person has been killed as a direct result of the protests since the beginning of the year (Mirza Fadl al-Obeidy, hit by tear gas canister).

The deaths quoted by these organizations’ statistics include numerous people who died a matter of weeks after they supposedly inhaled the tear gas; several where there were disputes between the doctor, the family and the authorities about the cause of death; or others attributed to asthma.

We know that – if you take Press TV seriously – there have been no natural deaths in Bahrain; everybody who died in their sleep has been highlighted by these Iranian propaganda channels as “martyrs”.

We hope that - given the recent failure of the Bahraini security forces to provide the opposition with martyrs - organizations like BCHR aren't also logging anyone who dies as a “tear gas victim”.