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businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc newsnight." >> this week, how the arab protests that swept the world a year ago altered the region. >> a year after the libyan revolution burst into the light, i will be reporting on its outcome and asking whether the arab spring is a mixed blessing. >> an exclusive report from inside of bahrain. not normally seen by the outside world, the protests continue and so does the savage repression. >> on a daily basis, protesters called for freedom and democracy and for the downfall of the dictators in bahrain. >> it has been said that revolutions are either short and

bloody or slow and peaceful. in the case of the arab uprising, it seems that some are also slow and bloody. it has been a year since the beginning of the arab spring with many of its protest movement still unfinished business. how have things changed in the past 12 months? we begin in libya where there is frustration at instability and the pace of change. armed militias have been accused of reprisals against get off the lists with the government unable or unwilling to stop them. -- armed militias are accused of reprisals against gaddafi loyalists and the government is unable or unwilling to stop them. >> it is a time of celebration. the other night, the people took to the streets in an exuberant

show of force. >> the 17th of february, 2011. this is the day that no libyan will ever forget. this is the date where everyone is born. >> we never thought this revolution was going to succeed. >> this is tripoli street in misrata penh to the city was attacked by gaddafi's forces last spring, and fighting raged for months. more than 1500 people from misrata died in the struggle and the city a merged with a steely sense of self-reliance. >> we all went to the front line to get their, a family supporting each other.

if anyone died, we all care for them. if anyone was wounded, we all care for them. this city is reunited. up until now, they are still supporting each other. they are not relying too much on the government. >> further down the street, a museum welcomes preschool children or passersby taking pride of place outside is a sculpture seized from colonel gaddafi's compound. a trophy brought back by the malicious of a system of centralized power now smashed. -- a trophy brought back by the militias. >> this is enormously invigorating for the country. people still have positive feelings about the revolution.

we are hearing increasingly concern expressed about the apparent lack of grip or leadership at the top and fears the gains of the revolution might be squandered. >> in libya, victory has come with revenge. we went to the outskirts of tripoli to meet members of the tribe who fled their homes. they give us this footage of an attack earlier this month when 8 people were killed at the camp. they blame the militia for chasing 30,000 of them out of their homes and pursuing some here. most are too frightened to be filmed but the authorities would not let us in. this man came out to tell us how his son had been killed. >> i received an anonymous call

telling me that my son had been shot and that his body was on the beach. i was too afraid to go there so i went there the next morning but i could not find it. the police informed me that my son's body was at the hospital. >> the people of misrata accuse others of war crimes. there is little that can be done to protect the refugees. >> they said, we cannot do anything. we will try. we will try to bring these soldiers. we stayed five days, no one came here to save us. >> the misrata militias have kept doing it in tripoli and they stand accused of operating as a law unto themselves.

after alleged attacks, the representatives emphasized the crimes of gaddafi's followers. >> when we went, there was nobody there. nobody laughed. -- nobody left. we would never slaughter anyone. we would not do this to libyans. we have taken people to justice. >> the charge of persecuting those suspected of backing the old order is older than one tried. this is one of dozens of makeshift and prisons across the country. there has been allegations of torture and detainees have no idea when they will be tried and released which is very awkward -- for the allies.

>> there are occasions when this issue has arisen. this is usually importance to us. they to differentiate themselves from the previous regime. they do follow through on what they have been consistent in saying publicly, that they support the highest international standards of human rights. >> that sense of a government that is yet to charge a course is mirrored on the wider scale. the country has huge oil and gas revenues, so money is coming in. government contracts are on hold, unemployment is high and they have to make tough decisions before the planned elections in june produce a new government. >> there is a list of

priorities, communicating what they're doing is not important but -- what they are doing is important but not at the top. >> of people are taking matters into their own hands. local the nation's have paid for a new terminal. the authorities are exercising increased authority. >> we don't think that to the ntc is doing the proper job but it is important to let them into the cost to let them do it. >> most people insist that libya will not be torn apart and this

does herald an increasingly difficult job for whoever takes over in june. on the outskirts of misrata, they gathered together directs of gaddafi's army. >> -- they have gathered together the rest of gaddafi's army. the same government is embarrassed by the human rights abuses and bewildered by the maneuvering of those who govern the country. >> the revolution's downside backers sought to end the dictatorship. power is being redistributed more fairly. beyond the flow of freedom, there is little sense here that anyone has a strong vision of how this nation should advance.

>> to discuss the broader impact of the uprising, i have been speaking to our bbc libya correspondent, the former editor and chief of the "daily telegraph.' max hastings, you were a critic of intervention. how do you feel today? >> i asked a senior intelligence officer and i said that i was very critical. i thought that western powers should be very cautious about in gauging -- in engaging. the story is not over yet. the question in libya, where we supporting the cause of freedom or were we supporting one

faction in the cause of a civil war? >> you were there throughout the air strike. is this revolution going wrong? >> it depends on who you talk to. certainly, a lot of pundits these days feel like something is going wrong. a lot of western governments have supported the uprising libyans on at the ground will tell you what ever divisions they have at the moment are a natural course of a post revolution libya. there is some worry on the ground certainly but i think that largely libyans are very optimistic of what lies ahead. in any post revolution scenario, there are no guarantees that many believe that there are opportunities. there was an opportunity to establish the kind of country where democracy.

>> the way it began was very difficult from iraq and afghanistan. these tanks were on their way to benghazi and essentially britain and france averted a massacre. >> you cannot take the parallels, libya is much smaller. the radically, much more manageable. our record of getting these things wrong has been so awful in the last dictated that we need to look at this. >> look at egypt, for instance, a really disturbing report about the rise of political islam and the treatment of women. revolutionthat the has been derailed. there are systemic problems involved in these states before these transitions, before these dictators are weak and corrupt and incompetent in terms of

their institutional structure. after the dictator has left, there is a vacuum and the ability to control. that is the case where there has been international intervention. in egypt, we like to think that we have quite a longstanding state institution or set of state institutions and what we have discovered is that actually we don't have such a strong state. the most prominent part of the state is the military establishment and they are now ruling and it is business as usual. >> it is a striking contrast, we were all here reporting on these amazing advance. when you look at so many countries in this region, these people are more divided today than they were a year-ago? >> the divisions are a product of a 42-year dictatorship.

in libya in particular, i think people forget because the regime systematically did away with any form of civil society and institutions, they have very little to build on. they are literally starting from scratch. >> they have brett nastiness and factionalism. that is what we have to accept. -- they have bred nastiness and factionalism. they should be seen to do this in their own way and not have the west. you already have people accusing the west. it does seem terribly important. they should not be able to say this is another western interference or exploitation. it is impossible to intervene in

syria as we know, partly because they have powerful friends. the question is which muslim society. we would be helping the syrian opposition. the problem is, which muslim society? >> now to bahrain, unrest began a year ago but in this small gulf island state it was swiftly and savagely put down. the protesters largely from the majority shia population have continued to show the finance and anchor towards the authorities and the ruling elite. there was one attempt to calm the protests and the police chief was called in to advise. >> nightly clashes in the tiny gulf island kingdom of bahrain. >> every night on a daily basis, protesters go out on the streets protesting calling for freedom

and democracy and for the downfall of the dictators in bahrain. >> the majority muslims are demanding reform in a country ruled by a sunni king. there is growing esotery and tensions of the potential to plunge the country and the region into unprecedented violence. -- there is growing uncertainty and tensions and the potential to place the country into unprecedented violence. it is very easy to miss the deep divisions. this country has been torn apart. it is exactly a year since the arab spring reached by rain. activists took over parts of the capital. within days, there was a bloody response. the king invited in saudi troops

and a brutal crackdown followed. they pressured the came to and the crackdown. -- they pressured the keen to and the cap down. the catalog systematic torture, excessive use of force. this is why the government is keen to reassure its allies. the formula one is massive here. because of the unrest, last year's race was canceled. .1 shi'a employees were sacked mistakes were made but it is time for the country to move on. >> his majesty ordered them to

be taken with full confidence and they are all back. >> at the trades union movement, this is -- this disputes the account given by the formula one chief. more than 3000 workers in the public and private sectors lost their jobs. >> we still have more than 1000 workers and they should be reinstated. >> the security forces were heavily criticized. >> we were invited to follow an elite unit. the police took us to several villages but they encountered

makeshift roadblocks and anchored young demonstrators. five police officers and nearly 60 civilians died since the uprising began. pictures are all that is left of this woman's 18-year-old son. he was arrested in january and a few hours later, he was dead. the police say he died of natural causes. his family believes that he died because of the beating that he received. a charge the government rejects. there was no independent autopsy. >> i was told here to wait for my son. the officers said that your son is on well. you have to take him to the hospital. i said, give him to me and i will taken to the hospital. why would you want to take him? i am his mother. he said, it is not possible. we will call you to come and collect him. he just kept repeating that. i was not expecting it to end in

his death. >> i have been brought out here by the government, by the king, to advise on many areas of this report. >> the former assistant commissioner of scotland yard, arrived to help reform the police. >> i think that they made excellent progress. the other issues will take time. is anof this stuff immense undertaking. >> i have spoken to other people. they have said this has happened in the past couple of weeks. they have been taken to unofficial sites that have not been officially recognized.

i can tell you the sites specifically, the youth hostel at the racing club. this is happening now. >> those things have happened. there is a proper procedure. they can make their reports that it will be investigated. there is a lot of mischief on at these social media sites. >> the plot on the ground that the protesters called the freedom square, the protesters are demanding that the king step down. the leaders of the opposition party urged restraint. many wonder if they can contain the anchor -- the anger.

to understand the depth of the anchor, duty to headed to pour shi'a villages. -- to understand the depth of the anger, you need it to head into poor shi'a villages. many of those that died have come from here. if you want to understand the deep divisions, you come to a place like this. the streets are strewn with rubbish and the walls are plastered with anti-government slogans. this one says, "down with the king." a leading human rights campaigner rejects the idea is that the opposition is responsible for sectarian

tension. >> they are trying to divide and conquer. the revolution is nonsectarian, this is demanding democracy and freedom for everyone. >> the government is saying, sit down and talk with us. i say, why not? >> we did that before in 2001 and we realized every time the dictators make promises, they break them. we're still paying the price for having a dialogue with them in 2001. the people here do not believe what the government says. >> at the country's most senior cleric calls for a peaceful protest. the sermons are ratcheting up the tension. with our souls and blood, they chant, we sacrifice for you. at a pro-government rally, shi'a

are singled out as the enemy. this party is condemned a. >> we want reforms but we also want the government to secure. >> bahrain is a strategic partner. this represents a serious threat to u.s. interests in the region. >> the u.s. has considered by rain and important and strategic ally. we have part of our fleet here. -- the u.s. has considered bahrain a strategic ally. we need to go forward in a constructive and positive way but we also want a stable society, one where people are functioning freely. >> i spoke to the country's justice minister and asked him if the two sides can be

reconciled. >> the doors are opened. now, there is lots going on to bring people together. unfortunately, the gestures that have been disseminated since the beginning has always been met by boycotting and even provocation and this amounts to a kind of incitements to violence. >> as night falls, the day the ritual protest starts all over again. the police say they have taken on board the criticisms leveled at them. in one year on, as the anchor bills, time is running out for this tiny country along a dangerous sectarian fault line. >> that is all for this week. for all of us, goodbye.

>> makes sense of international news at bbc.com/news. foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major

corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc newsnight" was presented by kcet, los angeles.