last year pro-democracy protesters in another arab country in bahrain thought they got what they wanted after being promised reforms including among the police force but twelve months later activists trying to mark the anniversary of the uprising found a crackdown was as harsh as before only difference this time was the same tactics and arms police use where this time brought from the u.k. those supposedly there to help bring democratic change artie's ivor bennett has more from london. tear gas and stun grenades supposedly the work of a reformed police force but one year on since the first anti-government protests will crushed in bahrain it seems not much has changed the only difference now the crackdown has been planned by one of britain's former top cops jon the eights used to be assistant commissioner of london's metropolitan police he now works for bahrain's monarchy which says he's there to oversee police reforms the police have borrowed or behavior despicably the latest trick is to throw cans of tear gas into

the homes of people they don't like shut the doors and people have died choking to death to just so use out of doors and i think for the british police officer is to retire to be associated in any way with his it's his role yes resigned from scotland yard last year in early fix him of the phone hacking scandal he popped up in bahrain in december as part of the regime's p.r. campaign to clean up its image a campaign pushed hard it seems by yeats himself he recently told the daily telegraph his new charges had a well rehearsed plan for the anniversary of the uprising adding the concept of reasonable reaction to provocation has been reinforced. as for the uprising itself he said this isn't organized protests it's just vandalism rioting on the streets claims hotly disputed by london's bahraini community.

demanding their rights. you seem to forget that sixty or sixty five people actually died from police brutality activists in bahrain insist their protest was peaceful their aim to reach the iconic pole roundabout in the capital manama they say they were met by tanks toxic gas and rubber bullets what we. as not. the front of. this previously but it's been extended through the toxic. poisoning of. mr john contributing we should see a positive things of the ground what we are seeing today as nothing acceptable it may not just be british tactics bahrain seizing but weapons to government figures show the u.k. sold over one million pounds worth of rifles and artillery equipment to bahrain

from july to september last year long after blood was spilled that's despite insisting all licenses had been revoked as for yates his contract runs until april by which time he hopes to put in place concrete reforms on this evidence that seems a long way off either bennett r.t. london. stay with us coming up r.t.s. laura smith speaks with middle east expert terry on the turbulent situation facing syria and the implications it could have for the region.

i'm talking to tara kelley who's a historian and author and writes mainly on subjects to do with the middle east of course we're talking about events in syria tariq ali thanks very much for talking to us now president assad seems to be clinging on to power in syria do you think there's any chance of him stepping down in the near future well it looks unlikely as if he'll step. of his own accord i think he has to be pushed out the syrian people are of course doing their best in the country. what is more dangerous is the pressure being built outside especially in istanbul and by nato to try and organize an intervention that i think would be disastrous and lead to enormous bloodshed much much worse than what's happened in libya. so i think there be

a disaster i think the best way is for pressure to be put on him from without countries who are not seen as hostile to syria which include russia and china and others. and the pressure should be kept on home and he should be told in blunt terms that he has to go where his father shed a lot of blood in syria he is now doing the same and that this family's on acceptable in syria needs a nonsectarian national government to prepare a new constitution the arab league's reportedly calling for a joint arab league u.n. peacekeeping force to be sent into syria president assad has already rejected the idea do you think it's a good idea i don't think it's a good idea to send any so-called peacekeeping forces i mean first we have to say what is the arab league the arab league is essentially a morri bond organization which is brought to life when the west needs it too it is

played no active role for the last twenty five years in any positive sense in the region but surely the involvement of the arab league which is kind of a local regional group is better than the involvement of the un or nato as exterior organizations well it's fine having observers from them if they do their reporting accurately but foreign troops i mean you know who will be the foreign troops there the arab league said saudis said cut through these these sort of big vote crews of democracy in the region i mean that's utterly ridiculous it doesn't make sense at all i think the pressure has to be kept up on the externally nonviolent pressure that he has to go and i think the chinese and russians are now in a strong position to be saying we've effectively prevented any foreign intervention in syria but you have to go. and push through.

a national government the other people of course who are capable of putting pressure on most of the really ins and hezbollah in lebanon and i think all these forces should now seed. it is impossible for syria to be governed by this family and this sectarian clique that has ruled it and the sooner they go the better for syria do you see syria as becoming increasingly isolated in the region and and what effect will that have on iran in turn do you think well i think they are becoming isolated i think we're in an independent state i mean one of the few sovereign states in the region that they can look after themselves i don't think the fall of us as such will affect iran because it will be in the interests of the syrian government if it is a democratic and representative government to maintain good relations with all these countries i mean you know i. have to say that when you look at what the west

did in relation to the our pride seeing some of the crisis in the yemen where killings still go on and what they're doing in syria it just sort of stands the former yemeni president is having medical treatment from the united states. so this is double standards that operate make one who suspicious of western motives and you say china and russia are in a very strong negotiating position now however. foreign minister lavrov says visits to syria recently seems to have yielded no results whatsoever well i think that you know if it carries on like this and the. family and clan refuse to budge and refuse to relinquish their stranglehold on the country sooner or later something disastrous will happen possibly including some form of foreign intervention and then where will the end do they want to end up like gadhafi or do

they want to end up like saddam ascend lynched by mobs backed by western troops that is the future that stares them in the face there is no other breach a lot of commentators have been saying about the arab spring in general that. the violence and uncertainty in the aftermath will enable the muslim brotherhood as the only organization that is organized enough to take advantage of it to essentially step into the fray are you worried that that will happen in syria well i don't support them politically and i don't think it will be in the interests of syria to have an islamist government you know moderate or extremist the pattern seems to be at the moment of saying that the turkish model a moderate islamist government is the best model for the arab world i disagree very strongly but that i don't think it's a good model for turkey either by the way. but the fact is if it's the only power in the land it will and there are elections it will come to power like it has in

tunis here like it has in egypt and then one has to deal with it i mean i regard these groups as the slum equivalents of christian democracies socially conservative organizations but perfectly happy to follow the latest economic trends. which dominate western do deals with the united states but you make the muslim brotherhood sound fairly benign really do you think that christian minorities and other minorities have something to fear from that well i mean there is always within the moderate islamist parties a current which feeling that they can't really offer people what they want which is a decent standard of living which is a social safety net to work then divert attention by targeting minorities the brotherhood has done it in relation to the copts in egypt and it's not impossible the sort of peers in syria will do the same so that is not a good thing to all but you know we have to wait and see if this is what the

majority of the people want then unfortunately it will happen sooner or later tara kelley thank you very much thank. you. just simply. seem to feel safe.

coming. to. twelve thirty am in moscow these here are t. headlines iran says it's been considering cutting oil sales to six even countries but wouldn't do so at the moment because of the cold snap getting your. syria's president announced as a vote on a new constitution which would effectively and nearly fifty years of single party rule the country this amid rising turmoil.

and rallies marking one year since the pro-democracy uprising in bahrain protesters face yet another harsh crackdown with police using tactics and weapons from the u.k. it was a rarity headlines up next our special report on the people around the world forced to stand strong to preserve their culture amid political and often violent suppression of their aspirations for a separate homeland stay with us. but then the finale is of and it will. spin nor that as

a syrian citizen it's my responsibility to work hard on the music of this country when you're a democrat. len i want to present it to people who are convinced that syria is some terrorist country. we can help politicians through music let them in when you develop culture in your country you are working through issues in the world of politics to. them and how you can see yes this is the best message we can send to the rest of the world to say come and see what syria is what it is and what it has.

not. since i was young i have loved arabic calligraphy and i believe or should have a message. justice means that the rights of the people. should be returned to them i know it's. a little bit over that that. after that there should be no more revenge. and he. already done i don't want to be an oppressed who becomes an oppressor.

especially when the cause of the palestinian conflict is that israelis came from all over the world expelled the palestinians from their land and toked their country. and are trying to create surely jewish state and out as many arabs and get rid of them as we can. israel has laid over the our right there are as one might hope will be some trial so that israel controls every single detail else in. our life itself is the system the ball being institutions. the walls

all separation law. books because of the fall told them it was suspended for it's time no one saw what to get to the mess even. though the other element is domination eighty five percent of the country a lot the palestinians in the visible on places. so we control the country we control the water we control the economy and the palestinians are enthused to leave the first. israel does not go three to four and some security bill them to claim the left. do you still want to bomb teacher i always first your build them to integrate the so that israel is doing the ball a speed alcohol stands for secure. israel the balls for the floor under the tiger i'll sit inside what it's. like.

to. just get a no go for the whistle. on a minute the only thing that will be left here is hatred if. you think that's funny . hates soldiers you find out funny moments because. she just stood there. and doesn't care to read both reaction because it all just as united states bonds. they were taken out of their houses they were going out on the street they're killing down. there and not letting them have food water or electricity or anything like that.

it just puts them in the worst circumstances every step his identity and took his country and took everything from them what do you expect from them of course he's going to pull himself off course is going to kill people so long as they can animal and unheard that under oath even if it's a remarkable thing like taking care of your dog for years and you put them in a cage and you start hurting him hurting them because. the waiting you. to do that is lucky for you wouldn't. believe it you know. most of the we have tried all the way we tried to fight we tried to resist after that they started calling us terrorists but we are defending our land here defending our rights. such as my looks rather than its appeals why should i look at the larger.

for the simple fact of the beauty. about the for the love of such. this is about so furry at. home under the sun that shows how this village was wiped out. and the grass grew and hit all the remains of the houses to make it look as if there was no village here. this is the tomb of a should used to communicate and to keep alive the history the memories and i'm young mom and i found a guy. there's not going to be the number. of jerusalem and the seton by the separation. sound the music was composed by a band called the five and they are palestinian rappers from a refugee camp in lebanon.

do you know when. you. buy your mom drugs how you been muslim in the you know. how do. we sing for people who don't listen to rap machine had a friend rap is not the main goal how to goal is the cause for which we are singing because as the most important thing. there will be no peace in the world as long as there are people being killed in palestine. chosing such as i told the cats here if you make a noise or anything suffocated by circumstance and needed help it's important that you just express support for a country that's under political turmoil because from a. business i don't feel good life is

a picture in the future i would like to become a journalist to show our country how special it is. and to show the truth. it is that when you give them to count you know they have no responsibility to document their community here empowering. the to. the much. much. more it will to do these kids a chance to really show to the people perspective on how it is to live in the camps. to. have some wonderful book see if you will sort of all the poor to see all.

those old love good. luck. and go for a deal for years in some parts of rio de janeiro parts of brazil there are more deaths than actual war zones smoking while you're here it's an urban war where any living being can be a potential targets. meisner for murder it's like an epidemic of minor conflicts everywhere where firearms become the solution to small disputes for them so it began as disputes over power people shoot for no reason at all. well not only the criminals but also the police. but i cannot watch these barbaric acts you cannot watch people being murdered in this way i'm not feel anything.

for them thank you i don't presume to change people's lives but i do my part as an artist. to come to the city. the president wanted a billboard this year was of a mother hugging a school kid who had been shot dead with a smiling policeman on next to them holding a smoking gun. if you. will it's. got to they came in the middle of the night and painted over this billboard. is fascism. one absurdity of the silence is another absurdity if you open the paper today there is going to be a new absurdity that will make you forget yesterday's. step by step down sometimes it sometimes. feels like the

types of utopia politically. again he. says no limits i must speak. for those i could be a k forty seven is the most popular rifle in wars throughout the world you can buy one on africa for eight u.s. dollars for the armed groups like it because it's light and children can carry it and shoot it with ease. that's cold and. a bit more gunk atar the philosophy is. this is the weapon which was designed to kill if it can be changed then why can't a human's change to work. for criticism one is going to want to see. i i. thank. god for

reggae as a cultural organization. if i gave them one of these gun guitars so they could keep working in the slums of rio de janeiro or music with the kids find the tools to change their reality. i. think you have to be very quick points and continue in the rossini islama you can't just walk around like that at all but i'll see if my work at the racine islam was created to open doors so people could understand the slums and the people who live

there that was originated myside i have photographed ten other slums. less than five percent of people in the slums are criminals but they are the ones who give the slums a bad name. security. but the slums are filled with hardworking and honest people it's estimated that in ten years more than half of the world's population will be living in these types of communities in these communities where the violence exists but why in my photos i try to show where the problem is and where the solution is. and i think it starts in childhood at this age. ok here is where the problem is. but if we target that age i think that a lot can be done but at the same but at the same is. that i.

know that i have what might come down that might bend the rights i want to set things my bullets in dates. in the case of medicine it's poetry that has united the community. more than one hundred fifty thousand people get together each year at the international poetry festival of men to. demonstrate to the entire world that in a country so drained by war. shows to humanity that the whole world's problems are. suffering is that every war but also lives in the world. without pay since i live in such a big country. that everything is far. less.

education. food. yes health now every house in. my country still beat the new justice doesn't extend to all. they really believe there is abuse of power and greed when that troll resources it was because we are the children of a planet a planet that we're depleting with wars and everything. forestry doesn't on seat governments but it does open consciences and hearts it goes like. taking. in more gold. we must stand up as boys and begin to say.