The Bahraini government has announced an investigation into the death of teenage boy during protests marking the second anniversary of a failed uprising.
Anti-government demonstrators have set up road blocks and clashed with members of the security forces.
Opposition groups have called for a general strike.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has called for the release of what it calls Bahrain's "prisoners of conscience".
The call by the human rights organisation comes on the anniversary of a protest movement that has led to two years of unrest and violence.
The organisation has adopted 22 political activists as prisoners of conscience, including several sentenced to life imprisonment.
Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said: "The government of Bahrain cannot carry on imprisoning people simply because it can't take criticism."
Analysis
The death of a teenage boy in renewed clashes today is a further reminder that the simmering insurgency in Bahrain's Shia villages is far from over. The government says it is investigating his death, the opposition is calling him a martyr, while some on Twitter are questioning why he wasn't in school.
The clashes that have erupted on this second anniversary of the 14 February protest movement will be used by sceptics on both sides who do not want the current round of reconciliation talks between government and opposition to succeed.
Many Shias doubt the ruling family's sincerity about granting more democracy and believe it is simply stringing the opposition along while giving away almost nothing. But many Sunnis and expatriates - who make up half the country's resident population - say legitimate, peaceful protest often descends into riots and vandalism.
He added: "Many of the allegations put forward by the prisoners of conscience have still not been investigated by the authorities."
The Bahraini government has rejected the criticisms saying there are no political prisoners in the country.
Rioters block roadsCorrespondents say that Thursday's protest could mar reconciliation talks which began last week between opposition groups and the government and its loyalists in a bid to end political deadlock.
Witnesses said that the protest turned violent when police fired shotguns and teargas to disperse the crowds, wounding several people, witnesses said.
The website of the main opposition al-Wefaq group said that the boy, 16, was killed on Thursday in the village of Daih "when the regime forces targeted him with birdshot at close range".
It says that the the teenager "sustained a serious injury to his stomach" and was taken to hospital before he died.
The interior ministry acknowledged that one person had been "brought in with injuries, but it turned out he had later died".
The ministry said rioters had blocked several roads and security forces were seeking to restore order.
Witnesses reported that several roads connecting villages around Manama had been blocked, while schools for Westerners remained closed.
A British ex-patriot businessman told the BBC that his area of Manama was calm but he was "following embassy advice and not going into the city centre."
Bahrain crisis timeline
- February 14, 2011: Demonstrators occupy iconic landmark , Pearl Roundabout in the capital
- March 14: Gulf Cooperation Council force led by Saudi troops enters Bahrain. Police clear Pearl Roundabout
- March-April: Hundreds arrested, thousands sacked from their jobs. Protest continue, 35 killed
- November 23: Protests continue as Cherif Bassiouni releases damning report on human rights abuses. Authorities accept findings
- January 21, 2013: Opposition groups agree to dialogue with government
Last month Amnesty conducted a research trip to Bahrain where it met seven prisoners of conscience detained in Jaw prison in the capital, Manama.
They included Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, who was given a two-year sentence for encouraging "illegal gatherings".
Mr Rajab, 48, is quoted as telling the Amnesty researchers he was warned by prison authorities not to speak in English or talk about human rights.
The pro-democracy activist is one of the most well-known in the Arab world, with more than 185,000 followers on Twitter. He spearheaded protests which have rocked the kingdom since February 2011.
'No political prisoners'On 14 February 2011, peaceful protesters took over an iconic Bahraini monument, Pearl Roundabout. Three days later security forces cleared the site using tear gas, batons and birdshot.
At least two protesters died and hundreds were injured.
As violence escalated 35 people, including five police officers, were killed, hundreds more were hurt and thousands jailed in February and March 2011.
The vast majority were Shia Muslims in a country ruled by a minority Sunni royal family.
Since then, opposition and human rights activists say another 45 people have been killed, a figure which the government disputes.
Although many people have been released, 13 activists and politicians including the leader of the secular Waad party, Ibrahim Sharif, remain in jail.
They have been convicted and in some cases given life sentences on evidence that is widely accepted to have been obtained under torture.
In a statement to the BBC in responding to Amnesty's charges, a government spokesperson said: "The Government has reiterated several times that there (are) no political prisoners currently in Bahrain. The Government supports the right to express oneself freely, as long as the mode of expression does not violate the freedoms of others as stipulated in Article 29 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Citizens continue to voice their concerns in in Parliament, as well as exercising the freedom of press, just like in any modern society."
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