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Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an a ...
s record on human rights has been described by
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
as "dismal", and having "deteriorated sharply in the latter half of 2010". Their subsequent report in 2020 noted that the human rights situation in the country had not improved. The government of Bahrain has marginalized the native
Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
population. Torture and
forced disappearances An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
are common in Bahrain. The crackdown on protesters during the
2011 Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econom ...
brought further human rights complaints, including the destruction of dozens of long-standing Shia mosques. The
Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), also known locally in Bahrain as the Bassiouni Commission, was established by the King of Bahrain on 29 June 2011''Bahrain News Agency''" HM King Hamad Sets up Royal Independent Investigation c ...
was established on 29 June 2011 by King
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salma ...
to assess the incidents that occurred in the Kingdom during the period of unrest in February and March 2011 and the consequences of these events. The report was released on 23 November of that year and confirmed that there were some incidents of physical and psychological abuse on detainees. It has been criticized for not disclosing the names of individual perpetrators of abuses and extending accountability only to those who actively carried out human rights violations.


Stateless people

There is a growing problem of stateless people, known as Bedoon, who are descendants of Iranians (especially ethnic
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
s) who have lived in Bahrain for many decades. Most of Bahrain's stateless are Muslims, some of Bahrain's stateless are Christians. In Bahrain, stateless people are denied the right to hold legal residency, are not allowed the right to travel abroad, buy houses, and to hold government jobs. They are also not allowed to own land, start a business and borrow loans. Recently, the Bahraini government issued regulations preventing them from sending their children to public schools and to receive free medical care. The stateless can also get deported at any time. Since the beginning of the 1980s, the Bahraini government has deported hundreds of Bedoon to
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...
.


Torture

Despite repeated government claims of improvement over the course of several years,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
claims that "torture is a regular part of the legal process in Bahrain." According to a 2011 report by
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
, between 2007 and 2009, the government regularly practiced torture and ill-treatment in interrogating security suspects. Although government spokesmen have issued denials, there is no evidence of criminal investigations and the government has not imposed disciplinary measures on the alleged perpetrators. In 2011, Human Rights Watch claimed to have found evidence that protections for migrant workers have improved. According to a report published by Reprieve and
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) is a non-profit human rights organisation based in London which promotes democratisation and human rights in Bahrain. It was founded by Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Alaa Shehabi and Hussain Abdullah ...
, death sentences in Bahrain have increased by over 600% in the last ten years. The report also called the use of torture in Bahrain "endemic", revealing cases of forced confessions, electric shocks, beatings and attempted rape.


Hakeem al-Araibi held in Thailand

In November 2018, a Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who had been sentenced in absentia by Bahrain to 10 years in prison for vandalising a police station, was arrested upon arrival in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
with his wife for their honeymoon. The footballer, who was given refugee status by Australia in 2014, urged the Thailand authorities not to deport him to Bahrain as he was previously tortured in Bahrain for his political views. He was kept in detention in Thailand while the Australian government and many international organisations and individuals lobbied for his release, until it was announced on 11 February 2019 by the Thai Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) that the extradition case against al-Araibi had been dropped by the criminal court at Bahrain's request. No reason was given by the foreign ministry, but the decision was made under Section 21 of the Prosecution Act, which allows for cases to be dropped if not in the public interest, and he would be released and allowed to return to Australia as soon as possible.


Sectarianism


Origin

A majority of the citizen population of Bahrain are Shia Muslims. The ruling Sunni
Al Khalifa family The House of Khalifa ( ar, آل خليفة, translit=Āl Khalīfah) is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Al Khalifas profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe, some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which m ...
, who were supported by the US, arrived in Bahrain from
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it s ...
at the end of the eighteenth century. Shiites alleged that the Al Khalifa failed to gain legitimacy in Bahrain and established a system of "political apartheid based on racial, sectarian, and tribal discrimination."
Vali Nasr Vali Reza Nasr ( fa, ولی‌ رضا نصر, born 20 December 1960) is an Iranian-American academic and author, specializing in the Middle East and the Islamic world. He is Majid Khaddouri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studi ...
, a leading expert on Middle East and Islamic world said "For Shi'ites, Sunni rule has been like living under apartheid".


Sectarian discrimination

According to ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'', Bahrain is practicing "a form of sectarian apartheid by not allowing Shiites to hold key government posts or serve in the police or military. In fact, the security forces are staffed by Sunnis from Syria and Pakistan who also get fast-tracked to Bahraini citizenship, much to the displeasure of the indigenous Shiite population." According to the
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; ar, مركز البحرين لحقوق الإنسان) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain,
, while the Shiites exceeds 70% of the population, "they occupy less than 18% of total top jobs in government establishments. In several government ministries and corporations no Shiite is appointed in leading jobs." Jobs in the police and armed forced are reserved for Sunni. Sunni Saudis are admitted to Bahrain as citizens to fill these jobs. Shiites and "some Sunnis of Persian origins", are banned from residing in the city of
Riffa Riffa ( ar, الرفاع, ) is the second largest city in the Kingdom of Bahrain by area size. Riffa is divided into three parts: , and . The city is completely located in the Southern Governorate. The city is growing fast: during the 2001 ce ...
, where only the Sunni Muslims are permitted to live. There are also concerns of the Bahraini government's systematic efforts to diminish the Shia majority by promotion of immigration of Sunni Muslims and granting them citizenship. According to Dr.
Saeeid Shahabi Saeed al-Shehabi (Arabic:سعيد الشهابي, born 1954) is a London-based Bahraini political activist, journalist, commentator and member of the Bahrain Freedom Movementlower house A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or oth ...
of Bahraini Parliament passed a law banning unmarried migrant workers from living in residential areas. To justify the law MP Nasser Fadhala, a close ally of the government said "bachelors also use these houses to make alcohol, run prostitute rings or to rape children and housemaids". Sadiq Rahma, technical committee head, who is a member of
Al Wefaq Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest cou ...
said: "The rules we are drawing up are designed to protect the rights of both the families and the Asian bachelors (..) these labourers often have habits which are difficult for families living nearby to tolerate (..) they come out of their homes half dressed, brew alcohol illegally in their homes, use prostitutes and make the neighbourhood dirty (..) these are poor people who often live in groups of 50 or more, crammed into one house or apartment," said Mr Rahma. "The rules also state that there must be at least one bathroom for every five people (..) there have also been cases in which young children have been sexually molested." Bahrain Centre for Human Rights issued a press release condemning this decision as discriminatory and promoting negative racist attitudes towards migrant workers.
Nabeel Rajab Nabeel Ahmed Abdulrasool Rajab ( ar, نبيل أحمد عبدالرسول رجب, born on 1 September 1964) is a Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East ...
, then BCHR vice president, said: ''It is appalling that Bahrain is willing to rest on the benefits of these people’s hard work, and often their suffering, but that they refuse to live with them in equality and dignity. The solution is not to force migrant workers into ghettos, but to urge companies to improve living conditions for workers – and not to accommodate large numbers of workers in inadequate space, and to improve the standard of living for them.'' There was a flurry of race hate messages sent to naturalized Bahrainis from developing countries after opposition political leaders alleged that immigration was tantamount to ‘cultural genocide’. In November 2006, ''Al Ayam'' published a collection of threats sent to naturalized citizens warning that they would have to 'choose between the suitcase and the coffin', promising 'Death and fire are your destiny' and another warned that the author hated all naturalized Bahrainis, "You are detested. You have taken from us, the sons of Bahrain, our homes, jobs and education opportunities. You will face the same destiny as the Egyptians in Iraq fter the end of the Iraq-Iran war It will be nails, hammers and a coffin. Your destiny is near." According to
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
, Bahrain's personal status law (Law 19/2009), adopted in 2009 and marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance cases, applies only to Sunnis although women's groups believe that it should treat all citizens equally. On 27 September 2017, Bahraini authorities attacked and took down many
Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...
banners and slogans. Ashura, the tenth day of the Islamic year, is an event commemorated by Shias annually, as it marks the date that Imam
Husayn ibn Ali Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...
, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was martyred in the Battle of Karbala. This is not the first time that Bahraini authorities have attacked the commemoration of Ashura; rather, they do so on a yearly basis.


Criticism of Bahraini government

Among the journalists, authors and human rights activists who have criticized Bahrain's system as apartheid are Mansoor Al-Jamri, former editor of the Bahraini newspaper '' Al Wasat'', the Voice of Bahrain,
Saeed Shahabi Saeed al-Shehabi (Arabic:سعيد الشهابي, born 1954) is a London-based Bahraini political activist, journalist, commentator and member of the Bahrain Freedom MovementBahrain Freedom Movement The Bahrain Freedom Movement ( ar, حركة أحرار البحرين الإسلامية, Harakat Ahrar al-Bahrayn) is a London-based Bahraini opposition group which has its headquarters in a north London mosque. Its main medium is the Voice of B ...
, ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' columnist
Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof was ...
,Nicholas Kristof, "Is This Apartheid in Bahrain?" New York Times, 22 February 2011
Irshad Manji Irshad Manji (born 1968) is a Ugandan-born Canadian educator. She is the author of '' The Trouble with Islam Today'' (2004) and ''Allah, Liberty and Love'' (2011), both of which have been banned in several Muslim countries. She also produced a P ...
, Shibil Siddiqi,
Ameen Izzadeen Ameen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Aml Ameen (born 1985), English actor * A. R. Ameen (born 2003), Indian singer *Hassan Ameen (born 1985), Emirati footballer *Jamal Ameen, Kuwaiti fencer *Kanwal Ameen, Pakistani informati ...
, Ben Cohen, Professor Staci Strobl,
Ali Akbar Salehi Ali Akbar Salehi ( fa, علی‌اکبر صالحی, ; born 24 March 1949) is an Iranian academic, diplomat and former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who served in this position from 2009 to 2010 and also from 2013 to 2021. He se ...
, the Foreign Minister of Iran. In 1996 the UK newspaper
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
stated that, "if Bahrain is to preserve its reputation as a financial and service center in the Gulf, then the government must begin to forge a new national consensus and end the apartheid against the Shi'ites". In 1997,
Joe Stork Joe Stork is an American political activist and Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch. He holds an M.A. in International Affairs/Middle East Studies from Columbia University.Human Rights WatchJoe Stork/ref> Career B ...
of
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
said the apartheid practiced against the Shia by the government appeared to be "worsening."Joe Stork, ''Routine abuse, routine denial : civil rights and the political crisis in Bahrain'', , New York, Human Rights Watch, 1997 In August 2017,
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's C ...
Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne Tillerson (born March 23, 1952) is an American engineer and energy executive who served as the 69th U.S. secretary of state from February 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, under President Donald Trump. Prior to joining the Trump administ ...
spoke against the discrimination of Shias in Bahrain, saying, "Members of the Shia community there continue to report ongoing discrimination in government employment, education, and the justice system," and that "Bahrain must stop discriminating against the Shia communities." He also stated that "In Bahrain, the government continue to question, detain and arrest Shia clerics, community members and opposition politicians." Bahraini human rights defender
Nabeel Rajab Nabeel Ahmed Abdulrasool Rajab ( ar, نبيل أحمد عبدالرسول رجب, born on 1 September 1964) is a Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East ...
was released from prison on 9 June 2020. He was detained in 2016 and then sentenced for five years in prison on peacefully expressing his views on the Bahraini government online.
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
urged the government to release the human rights defenders, political activists, opposition leaders, and journalists who were unjustly imprisoned for peacefully expressing their opinions. In April 2021, rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja not only turned 60 years old but also completed 10 years of unconditional imprisonment. The family members of Abdulhadi are concerned about his well-being due to his declining health condition during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report issued by
Civicus CIVICUS is an international non-profit organisation, which describes itself as “a global alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world." Founded in 1993, the organisation today counts more than 8500 memb ...
, an international non-profit organization, Al-Khawaja has spent 10 years of unreasonable incarceration along with abuse and mistreatment at the hands of the prison authorities. He was arrested in 2011 for a critical stance against the government and for organizing protests that demanded political reforms during the 2011 Arab uprisings. Rights organizations are now calling for his prompt release. Human rights groups reported on 9 April 2021 the detention of the family members of prominent political prisoners following their peaceful protests against their imprisonment, which included Mohammed Al-Daqqaq and his inmate on death row, Mohammed Ramadhan. The arrests were made during an event of suppression of protesters during a demonstration against the severe outbreak of coronavirus at the Jau Prison, where the political prisoners have been held. According to Ricochet, independent journalism and crowdfunded media outlet, the largest prison of Bahrain, Jau, an average cell measuring 3 by 3.4 meters house approximately 12 prisoners at a time, despite coronavirus pandemic. Many of the inmates are political prisoners arrested for opposition against the government or protests during the Arab Spring movement. The conditions at the prison are reportedly dirty and unhygienic. However, the economical and geopolitical relations shared by Ottawa and Washington with Bahrain are apparently overshadowing the violation of human rights in the Gulf nation. When the relatives of the prisoners discovered that 3 Covid-positive cases had been detected at the prison, they took to the streets to protest against the continued imprisonment of the political prisoners. The event was followed by prisoners being beaten in their cells by authorities, as per Bahrain's National Institution for Human Rights. In April 2021, the death of a Bahraini prisoner at the Jau prison due to COVID-19 led to protests from angry inmates who feared their lives following the lack of medical facilities and treatment. The sit-in lasted for 10 days at building 13. The data provided by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and reviewed by the Guardian stated that at least 138 inmates at the prison had been infected with COVID-19 since March 22, 2021. The COVID-19 outbreak in Bahrain's main prison, Jau has left prisoners with poor living conditions asprison authorities continue to deliberately neglect medical needs. According to Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), a second outbreak at Jau began in mid-May’21, infecting at least 60%of the 255 political prisoners. A 22-year-old Bahraini, Mustafa Abdul-Karim Khatam, was reported to be in a bad health condition, following torture inside Jau Prison. He was allegedly interrogated and tortured to submit to charges. Despite the worsened conditions, Khatam was denied any medical assistance or care, criticized by human rights organizations. In July 2021, non-governmental organisation IFEX called upon the Bahraini government to immediately release prominent Bahraini human rights defender and academic Dr.Abduljalil AlSingace, who went on a hunger strike to protest against the degrading and punitive treatment he had been receiving from Jau Prison authorities. On 22 August 2021, ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'' revealed that the UK government has been using British taxpayers’ money to secretly fund a Bahraini government institution, known as the National Intelligence Agency Ombudsman. The institution was accused of “whitewashing” the torture and rape of women's rights activists. The British government was condemned by Najah Yusuf and Ebtisam Al-Saegh, the two activists who were alleged of being sexually assaulted by the Bahraini authorities. On 24 September 2021, the Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) reported that a bipartisan group of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
senators called on the Secretary of State
Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and ...
to press the Bahraini government to end human right abuses including, “
arbitrary detention Arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention are the arrest or detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law ...
,
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts carr ...
, cruel and degrading treatment of prisoners, restrictions on
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...
, interference with peaceful assembly, and restrictions on political participation and religious practice”. In October 2021, the US Senate Appropriations Committee addressed the extensive human rights violations by the Bahraini government. The Committee expressed concerns over the “widespread use of arbitrary detention,
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts carr ...
, violation of due process, and unfair trials in Bahrain”. They also pointed out at the intolerance towards free expression and suppression of peaceful dissent. The committee's legislation stated that Government of Bahrain should release the
political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
,
human rights activists A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...
and independent journalists without condition. On 20 December 2021, 12 members of the European Parliament signed a joint letter to High Representative
Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician serving as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since 1 December 2019. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he serve ...
, expressing grave concerns about the human rights violations in Bahrain. The letter, under the initiative of the European Center for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR), raised many questions regarding the measures taken by the
European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service and combined foreign and defence ministry of the European Union (EU). The EEAS is led by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), who is als ...
(EEAS). The MEPs mentioned the situation of the imprisoned opposition leader, Hasan Mushaima, and prominent opposition activist Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, along with two European citizens, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Sheikh Mohammad Habib Al-Miqdad. The MEPs also requested in their letter to impose sanctions against members of the government of Bahrain responsible for the said violation of human rights. On 14 January 2022, the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from t ...
criticised the UK’s relationship with Bahrain and accused the government of prioritizing trade deals over human rights abuses. In the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, SNP’s Westminster human rights spokesman
Brendan O'Hara Brendan O'Hara (born 27 April 1963) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Argyll and Bute in 2015. He has been the SNP Spokesperson for International Development since De ...
stated that when it came to right and wrong, the Government’s position on Bahrain shows it has “clearly picked which side they are on”, citing the case of Dr. Al-Singace, who has suffered torture and sexual abuse at the hands of Bahraini security forces. It was revealed in February 2022 that Bahrain used Israel’s
Pegasus spyware Pegasus is spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group that can be covertly installed on mobile phones (and other devices) running most versions of iOS and Android. Pegasus is able to exploit iOS versions up to 14.7, throug ...
to hack into the phones of three individuals involved in political opposition. The targets included a prominent lawyer, an exiled Bahraini psychiatrist and a journalist. A separate investigation by the Pegasus Project revealed that 20 loyalists close to Bahrain’s government, including two members of the royal family, were also listed in the leaked database of numbers targeted or hacked by NSO. The mobile phone of a US state department official, who was stationed in Bahrain at the time of her selection, also appears on the leaked database. On 5 April 2022, a report by ''
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
'' claimed that Bahrain failed to fulfil an undertaking it pledged at the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in 2008. The Kingdom had pledged that it “is fully committed to supporting non-governmental organizations through legal and other instruments”. Instead, it shut down almost all NGOs that were critical of the regime. HRW said independent media and foreign journalists rarely have access to the country. With abusive restrictions on freedom of expression, Bahrain arbitrarily imprisons human rights defenders and those who took part in protests. The repressive Kingdom was asked to permit an access for foreign journalists and human rights organizations into the country. On 12 April 2022, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) criticized relations of the UK and US with Bahrain, stating that the two nations turned a blind-eye towards the Arab nation’s legalization of systematic repression and human rights violations. The US and UK were condemned for continuing their business-as-usual with Bahrain and for ignoring the torture, unfair trials, and killing of protesters and critics of the government. ADHRB stated that the futile political reforms enacted by the Bahraini government to improve the country’s human rights situation have covered for both the US and the UK to continue their political relations with the Arab nation, while neglecting the country’s human rights violations. On 10 October 2022, the
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
and the
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) is a non-profit human rights organisation based in London which promotes democratisation and human rights in Bahrain. It was founded by Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Alaa Shehabi and Hussain Abdullah ...
released a joint report stating that Bahraini courts routinely violated defendants’ rights to fair trials, and sentenced defendants to death following manifestly unfair trials, based primarily on confessions allegedly coerced through torture. Since 2011, courts in Bahrain have sentenced 51 people to death, and the state has executed six since the end of a de facto moratorium on executions in 2017. As of June 2022, 26 men were on death row, and all have exhausted their appeals.


Calls for an election boycott

In 2010 the Al-Wafa Islamic Movement, Haq Movement and
Bahrain Freedom Movement The Bahrain Freedom Movement ( ar, حركة أحرار البحرين الإسلامية, Harakat Ahrar al-Bahrayn) is a London-based Bahraini opposition group which has its headquarters in a north London mosque. Its main medium is the Voice of B ...
called for a boycott of the 23 October election to the Bahraini Council of Representatives on the grounds that participation would be "tantamount to accepting the unjust sectarian apartheid system."


Silencing of Shia clerics

On 19 August 2015, Bahraini authorities arrested Shia cleric and former MP Sheikh Hassan Isa. His arrest on false charges was said to be a reprisal of the Bahraini government against him, and it was reported that the measures taken against Sheikh Isa, who was innocent, violated national and international law. On 20 June 2016, Ayatullah Sheikh Isa Qassim was stripped of his nationality. As a result, some people protested the Bahraini government's act of doing this by holding a sit-in outside the home of the Ayatullah. On 23 May 2017, however, Bahraini security forces attack the sit-in. As a result of the attack, five people died, dozens of people were injured, and hundreds of people were arrested. The Ayatullah was also placed under house arrest. In August 2017, Bahraini authorities arrested Shia cleric Sayed Mohieldin Al-Mashaal. Sayed Al-Mashaal had previously been harassed by the Bahraini authorities for about 5 years. Also in August 2017, around the three-month anniversary of Ayatullah Sheikh Isa Qassim's house arrest, it was reported that Bahraini authorities were placing concrete barriers around his house. On 1 November 2017, Bahrain imposed charges against Sheikh Ali Salman, Hassan Sultan, and Ali al-Aswad because of their efforts for reform through peaceful means. In March 2018, Bahrain refused to grant Bahraini citizenship to the daughter of Sheikh Ali Salman, a prominent Shia and opposition leader in Bahrain. This was Bahrain's retribution for the imprisoned Shiekh's peaceful attempts for reform in the country. In late April 2018, after the Bahraini monarch commuted the death sentences of four men who had been tried by Bahrain's military court, four Shia sheikhs released a statement saying that they hoped that such steps would be "extended to the rest of those sentenced
o death "O Death", also known as "O, Death", "Oh Death" and "Conversations with Death", is a traditional Appalachian folk song, listed as number 4933 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song is generally attributed to the musician and Baptist preacher Llo ...
" The statement also called for a "homeland of love, tolerance, justice, and prosperity." In response, Bahrain's interior ministry threatened the sheikhs with "legal action."


Ban on Friday prayers

Since 20 June 2016, Bahrain has prevented the leader of Friday prayers of Diraz, a village of about 30,000 people, from entering.


Bahraini uprising (2011–present)

In February 2011, the tensions between the Sunni ruling minority and the Shi'a majority spilled over into street protests which was violently suppressed by police forces, resulting in multiple civilian deaths. McClatchy Newspapers/csmonitor.com reported that as of mid-May 2011,
Authorities have held secret trials where protesters have been sentenced to death, arrested prominent mainstream opposition politicians, jailed nurses and doctors who treated injured protesters, seized the health care system that had been run primarily by Shiites, fired 1,000 Shiite professionals and canceled their pensions, detained students and teachers who took part in the protests, beat and arrested journalists, and forced the closure of the only opposition newspaper.
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New ...
reported that during the 2011 uprising the Bahraini government initiated systematic and targeted attacks against medical personnel who had witnessed government atrocities while treating civilian protesters. In a report titled ''Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients'', released in April 2011,
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New ...
documented violations of medical neutrality including the beating, abuse, and threatening of Shi'a physicians at Salmaniya Hospital; government security forces stealing ambulances and posing as medics; the militarization of hospitals and clinics, thus obstructing medical care; and rampant fear that prevented patients from seeking urgent medical treatment. Other key findings in the report included the use of excessive force against unarmed civilians and violent assaults on civilian detainees by government authorities and security forces. In May 2011, Richard Sollom, deputy director of
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New ...
, testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan caucus of the
US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
, at a hearing on Bahrain. He reported the abuses documented by
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New ...
and called upon Congress to take a stronger stance against human rights violations in Bahrain. An estimated 1000 Bahrainis have been detained since the uprising and Bahraini and international human rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of torture and abuse of Shia detainees. According to csmonitor.org, the government has gone beyond the crushing of political dissent to what "appears" to be an attempt to "psychologically humiliating the island's Shiite majority into silent submission."Bahrain campaign to humiliate Shiites goes beyond politics
By Caryle Murphy / csmonitor.com / 7 June 2011
The
Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), also known locally in Bahrain as the Bassiouni Commission, was established by the King of Bahrain on 29 June 2011''Bahrain News Agency''" HM King Hamad Sets up Royal Independent Investigation c ...
was established on 29 June 2011 by King
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salma ...
to assess the incidents that occurred in the Kingdom during the period of unrest in February and March 2011 and the consequences of these events. The report was released on 23 November and confirmed the Bahraini government's use of torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuse on detainees. It has been criticized for not disclosing the names of individual perpetrators of abuses and extending accountability only to those who actively carried out human rights violations. On 1 April 2022, the
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
reported that Bahraini human rights defender, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was being denied medical treatment for suspected
glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...
, as a result of the injuries he sustained due to torture in 2011, including a broken jaw. After spending over a decade in wrongful imprisonment and being subjected to physical, psychological and sexual torture, Al-Khawaja suffered from chronic pain and required an additional surgery. However, his medical treatment was stopped due to his activism inside the prison in February 2022. His daughter also reported that during January, Al-Khawaja had to wait outside the hospital for three hours, before he was brought back to the prison without seeing the doctor. An academic, Abduljalil al-Singace was arrested by the Bahraini authorities and sentenced to prison for life for his role in the 2011 uprisings. Following his arrest, he was subjected to beatings at night for two months and was kept in solitary confinement. He has been subjected to torture and ill-treatment, where he was forced to “stand on one leg for prolonged periods”, tortured by pushing his crutch “into his genitals” and was “threatened him with rape and made sexually explicit comments about his wife and his daughter”. In July 2021, al-Singace went on a hunger strike in protest, after the prison authorities confiscated his research work of four years. He refused to take solid food and survived on liquids and vitamins. In July 2022, al-Singace announced to further abstain from taking salts that helped in stabilizing his health condition. Amnesty International called on the Bahraini authorities to “immediately and unconditionally release” him, hand over his work to his family and to “ensure he receives the medication” required.


Conviction of medical workers

A security court handed down what have been described as " harsh sentences" to 20 Bahraini medical workers in September 2011. The accused workers, who all worked at the Salminaya Medical Center, were given prison terms ranging from 5–15 years based on government claims that the medical workers had taken over the hospital and used it for antigovernment activity. After the sentences were condemned by United Nations secretary Ban Ki-moon and international human rights groups such as
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New ...
, Bahraini judicial authorities nullified the convictions and ordered retrials in civilian court. In January 2012, Richard Sollom, deputy director of
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New ...
, was denied entry to Bahrain, where he had travelled to monitor the appellate court trial of the 20 previously sentenced medics. Bahrain had promised greater transparency in the wake of an international investigation into the human rights violations that occurred during the uprising, yet refused to allow Sollom, who carried a valid entry visa, to view the trial or even enter the country.


Civil and political rights

Parliamentary and municipal elections take place every four years, since the restoration of elections in 2002, when women were also given the vote for the first time as part of reforms by
King Hamad Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salma ...
. Bahrain has a bicameral legislature with the lower chamber of parliament, the (
Council of Representatives of Bahrain The Council of Representatives (''Majlis an-nuwab''), sometimes translated as the "Chamber of Deputies", is the name given to the lower house of the Bahraini National Assembly, the national legislative body of Bahrain. The council was created ...
), elected by universal suffrage, and the upper chamber, the (
Shura Council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura ( ar, مجلس الشورى; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, ...
), appointed directly by the
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...
. Those represented in the Shura Council include members of Bahrain's Christian and Jewish communities. The
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is n ...
and government ministers are not elected. They are appointed directly by the King, but ministers can be removed by parliamentary no-confidence votes. The current Prime Minister, Khalifah ibn Sulman Al Khalifah, is the King's paternal uncle and has been in office since 1970. Twelve of the twenty-three cabinet ministers appointed in November 2006 are members of the
Al Khalifa The House of Khalifa ( ar, آل خليفة, translit=Āl Khalīfah) is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Al Khalifas profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe, some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which m ...
royal family. Bahrain has a complex civil society, which pre-dates the reforms introduced by King Hamad, and has its roots in the emergence of the labour movement and the development of an educated middle class in the 1930s. According to a 2006 study on civil society in Bahrain by the European University Institute, ''Voices in Parliament, Debates in Majalis, Banners on the Street: Avenues of Political Participation in Bahrain'': For the average politically active Bahraini, there are usually a number of outlets according to the European University Institute: The government's moves to join international treaties protecting human rights have often been opposed by parliament. The initial attempt to get parliamentary ratification of the Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...
was blocked in February 2006 on the grounds that leading MPs said contradicted Islamic laws. Al Menbar Bloc president Dr Salah Abdulrahman complained that the covenant would allow citizens to change religions without any restrictions, noting "This means that Muslims could convert to another religion, something against the Islamic law, since those who do so should be beheaded," he said. "Under the convention, women have the right to marry without their father's consent, while in Islam they should do so if she was a virgin". It was not until June 2006 that a second attempt was made to ratify the country's accession to the Covenant, meaning that Bahrain did not formally accede to the treaty until 20 September 2006. Civil society has been prominent in supporting specific legislation promoting human rights through parliament. One recent campaign is the call for Bahrain's government to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It is being led by the Bahrain-branch of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court and wants the government to transfer the draft bill on ratification to parliament at the earliest. The Bahraini Coalition for the ICC is headed by Nasser Burdestani (who is also the head of the Bahrain-branch of
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
), who commented: Citing the role that Bahrain plays in the region and the domino effect, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court Co-ordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Amal Basha, said Bahrain's ratification could have a significant impact among the neighbouring Persian Gulf countries: "We believe that Bahrain could serve as a real catalyst by ratifying as soon as possible," she said. "It would provide a serious boost to the growing world movement to ensure accountability for the worst violations of international human rights and humanitarian law." On 25 November 2020, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
'' reported that three political prisoners, who claimed to have been victims of human rights abuses in Bahrain, appealed
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
to use his position as F1's champion to highlight the reality of their dilemma to the world. In a letter to Hamilton, they also praised his commitment to pursuing equality, anti-racism and human rights causes. Since the 2011 uprising, many Bahrainis have repeatedly protested against the hosting of the
Formula 1 Grand Prix Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing series managed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name alludes to a series of FIA ...
, while hundreds of political prisoners had been piled up and tortured in prisons of Bahrain. In 2012, Salah Abbas was murdered by the Bahraini police and his body was found a day before the Grand Prix. Similarly, in 2017, Najah Yusuf was arrested, tortured and sexually assaulted by the Bahraini authorities for criticizing the
Bahrain Grand Prix The Bahrain Grand Prix ( ar, جائزة البحرين الكبرى), officially known as the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, is a Formula One motor racing event in Bahrain. The first race took place at the Bahrain Interna ...
on social media. On 4 October 2021, according to a report by Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), four French MPs Gérard Leseul, Jean-Chistophe Lagarde, Isabelle Rauch, and Dominique Potier urged France’s foreign minister to speak out over the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain, especially the imprisonment of political opponents. Bahraini’s showed up to the November 2022 elections to vote for a meaningful change, only to find out that the opposition was banned, as per rights groups. Despite 330+ candidates, which included a record 73 women competing in the elections, the elections ended up being an unfair event with all of them being banned from competing.
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
claimed that the election was held in an “environment of political repression”.


Citizenship rights

On the weekend of 31 January/1 February 2015, 72 Bahraini citizens, including "about 50 journalists, bloggers, religious figures, doctors, political and human rights activists" and about 20 people "suspected of or known to have left Bahrain to join
ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
in Iraq and Syria", had their citizenships revoked. The citizenship revocations were discussed on the newly launched
al-Arab News Channel Al-Arab ( ar, العرب) was a short-lived Arabic-language news channel which vowed to practice objective journalism. It was launched on 1 February 2015 and almost immediately shut down. The channel was owned by Saudi prince and entrepreneur A ...
on 1 February. According to
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
annual report 2016, Bahraini authorities can revoke the
citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
of any person who involved in helping a hostile state or causing harm to the interests of the
kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
. In January, the minister of interior revoked the citizenship of 72, including former parliamentarians and politicians, claiming that they had been involved in "illegal acts," including "inciting and advocating regime change through illegal means.


Death penalty

In 2017, Bahrain ended its moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and by 2020 had executed six people. As of 2021, there are 27 individuals on death row in the country, with 25 deemed at "imminent risk" of execution according to the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. A report by the
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
published in October 2022 claimed that despite a de facto moratorium on executions put in place in 2017, executions have continued to take place in Bahrain. Approximately, 51 people were sentenced to death who had exhausted their appeals, even though the Bahraini law is controlled by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. It was possible for the King to ratify the sentences or grant pardons to those sentenced. The report claimed that the Bahraini courts failed on multiple levels to investigate reports of torture or abuse used as a means to coerce confessions as evidence for death sentencing, prohibited under Article 7 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...
(ICCPR).


Freedom of speech

The government claims that the press is free. However, the Penal Code of 1976, still active today, has been widely criticized by local and international human rights bodies for granting the regime widespread powers to suppress dissent.
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
noted in 2004 that the Penal Code gives the government "wide latitude to suppress public criticism" and that it "has provisions that contradict international human rights standards".
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
in 2004 stated the Code can be used "as a justification to restrict freedom of expression. The organization reiterates its call for the Code to be reviewed as soon a possible to ensure compliance with international human rights standards." According to Human Rights Watch 2011 country report and the international press, freedom of the press both in print and on web sites is severely restricted, with websites blocked, journalists allegedly tortured and editors fired. As of 2017,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
said Bahraini authorities are apparently targeting the family members of a prominent Bahraini activist, Sayed al-Wadaei, in retaliation for his human rights work. They have detained both his brother-in-law and his mother-in-law. Sayed has accused Bahraini authorities of serious human rights abuses. Since having forced Sayed into exile in Britain, authorities have resorted to threatening and harassing his wife, infant son, and relatives with torture.  According to
Amnesty international Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
report on the human rights situation in Bahrain during 2016, Authorities continued imposing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and association and continued to curtail the right to peaceful assembly. The international organization said authorities detained several activists and banned others from travelling abroad. Authorities also continued its policy in removing opponents their citizenship. During the
2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis The Qatar diplomatic crisis was a diplomatic incident in the Middle East that began on 5 June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar and banned Qatar-registered planes and ships ...
, Bahrain banned any expression of sympathy towards
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it s ...
. Violators will face a fine and jail term up to five years. On July 11, 2020, the UK foreign office was urged to intervene to stop the execution of Mohammed Ramadan and Husain Moosa, two Bahraini pro-democracy activists who were given death sentence by a Bahrain court, despite claims of confessions extracted through torture. In January 2021, three deputies of the
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland reads: ...
,
Niall Collins Niall Collins (born 30 March 1973) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister of State for Skills and Further Education since July 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick County constituency since 2016, and ...
,
Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime E ...
, and
Michael Creed Michael Creed (born 29 June 1963) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North-West constituency since 2007, and previously from 1989 to 2002. He previously served as Minister for Agriculture, Food and ...
questioned the Irish Foreign Minister
Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since December 2022 and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael since 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affa ...
over the
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
violations in
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an a ...
. They called for the Irish authorities to put efforts into the release of Bahrain's opposition political party leader, Hassan Mushaima. In response to the deputies, Coveney expressed serious concerns over the violations of freedom of speech in
Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...
, and urged the regime to release Mushaima. On 13 December 2021, the ''
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
'' demanded that on the occasion of Bahrain National Day, December 16, 2021, authorities use the customary pardon to free everyone imprisoned for exercising freedom of expression and association. The most prominent opposition leaders, including human rights defenders, and journalists, have been behind bars for more than a decade for their role in the 2011 pro-democracy protests. According to the reports, Bahrain has one of the highest incarceration rates per capita in the Middle East.


Internet censorship

Internet censorship in
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an a ...
is classified as pervasive in the political and social areas, as substantial in Internet tools, and as selective in conflict/security by the
OpenNet Initiative The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) was a joint project whose goal was to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employed a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigato ...
in August 2009."ONI Country Profiles"
Research section at the OpenNet Initiative web site, a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group, Ottawa
Bahrain was placed on
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
' list of Internet Enemies in 2012.''Internet Enemies''
, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 12 March 2012
On 5 January 2009 the Ministry of Culture and Information issued an order (Resolution No 1 of 2009) pursuant to the Telecommunications Law and Press and Publications Law of Bahrain that regulates the blocking and unblocking of websites. This resolution requires all ISPs – among other things – to procure and install a website blocking software solution chosen by the Ministry. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority ("TRA") assisted the Ministry of Culture and Information in the execution of the said Resolution by coordinating the procurement of the unified website blocking software solution. This software solution is operated solely by the Ministry of Information and Culture and neither the TRA nor ISPs have any control over sites that are blocked or unblocked.


Freedom of Association

According to the Human Right Watch 2011 country report, freedom of association is severely curtailed by an association law, "which prohibits organizations from involvement in political activities." The
Bahrain Human Rights Society The Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) was set up in 2002 following wide ranging political reforms by the Bahraini government to allow the functioning of independent human rights groups. In 2010 the government dissolved the BHRS's board of dire ...
, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and Bahrain Youth Human Rights Society have been closed or ordered to close. In June 2017, the
National Democratic Action Society The National Democratic Labour Action Society – Wa'ad ( ar, جمعية العمل الوطني الديمقراطي – وعد) is Bahrain's largest leftist political party. History and profile It emerged from the Popular Front, a "radical" c ...
party (Wa'ad) was banned on terrorism charges. The ban was criticised by
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
and
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) is a non-profit human rights organisation based in London which promotes democratisation and human rights in Bahrain. It was founded by Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Alaa Shehabi and Hussain Abdullah ...
. Lynn Maalouf of Amnesty International stated that "the suspension of Waad is a flagrant attack on freedom of expression and association".


Bandargate

The Bandargate scandal refers to an alleged political conspiracy by the certain government officials in Bahrain to foment sectarian strife and marginalize the majority Shia community in the country. The conspiracy was allegedly led and financed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and head of the Civil Informatics Organization and member of the Al Khalifa royal family. The allegations were revealed in September 2006, in a 240-page document produced by the Gulf Centre for Democratic Development, and authored by Dr Salah Al Bandar, an adviser to the Cabinet Affairs Ministry. Following the distribution of the report, Bahraini police forcibly deported Dr Al Bandar to the United Kingdom, where he holds citizenship. According to Dr al-Bandar, the Minister paid five main operatives a total of more than $2.7 million to run: *a secret intelligence cell spying on Shi’as *‘GONGOs’ – government operated bogus NGOs like the ‘Bahraini Jurists Society’ and the ‘Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society’ *internet forums and websites that foment sectarian hatred *subsidisation of ‘new converts’ from Shia Islamic sect to the Sunni sect *payments for election rigging.


Freedom of religion

The Constitution states that Islam is the official religion and that Shari'a (Islamic law) is a principal source for legislation. Article 22 of the Constitution provides for freedom of conscience, the inviolability of worship, and the freedom to perform religious rites and hold religious parades and meetings, in accordance with the customs observed in the country; however, the Government placed some limitations on the exercise of this right. The Government continued to exert a level of control and to monitor both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, and there continued to be government discrimination against Shi'a Muslims in certain fields. Members of other religious groups who practice their faith privately do so without interference from the Government. There were occasional reports of incidents between the Government and elements of the Shi'a majority population, who were often critical of the Sunni-controlled Government's rule. Problems continued to exist, stemming primarily from the Government's perceived unequal treatment of Shi'a in the country.


Destruction of religious facilities

In the wake of the 2011
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econom ...
uprising and crackdown against Shia protest in Bahrain, "dozens" of Shia mosques have been leveled by the government according to a report in McClatchy newspapers. According to Shiite leaders interviewed by the reporter, work crews have often arrived "in the dead of night, accompanied by police and military escorts", to demolish the mosques, and in many cases, have hauled away the buildings' rubble before townspeople awake so as to leave no trace. Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla al Khalifa, the minister of justice and Islamic affairs for Bahrain, defended the demolitions stating: "These are not mosques. These are illegal buildings." However the McClatchy reporter found that photos taken of several mosques before their destruction by the government "showed they were well maintained, decades-old structures."Bahrain's Sunni rulers target Shiite mosques
By Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers, 11 May 2011


Media and publication

Bahrain has eight daily newspapers representing a broad section of opinion. In 2002, '' Al Wasat'' was set up by Mansoor Al-Jamri, the son of Bahrain's spiritual Shi'a leader, Sheikh Abdul-Amir Al-Jamri and the spokesman of the
Bahrain Freedom Movement The Bahrain Freedom Movement ( ar, حركة أحرار البحرين الإسلامية, Harakat Ahrar al-Bahrayn) is a London-based Bahraini opposition group which has its headquarters in a north London mosque. Its main medium is the Voice of B ...
. The paper is broadly sympathetic to the Shia Islamist opposition, particularly
Ali Salman Ali Salman Ahmed Salman ( ar, علي سلمان أحمد سلمان) is a Bahraini Twelver Shi'a cleric and the Secretary-General of the Al-Wefaq political society. In January 1995, the Bahraini government forcibly exiled him to Dubai for leadin ...
. Akhbar Al Khaleej has traditionally been close to Bahrain's Left and Arab nationalist strands, featuring controversial columnists such as Sameera Rajab. Al Ayam is seen as solidly pro-government, with its proprietor an advisor to the King. The Press Law 47 of 2002 has been strongly criticised as restrictive as it specifies criminal charges against those who criticise the head of state or Islam, or "threaten national security". However, discussion in the newspapers is often robust with journalists frequently criticising government ministers: for instance one newspaper recently criticised the Minister of Housing, Fahmi Al Jowder, for lavishing "ludicrous praise" on the King. Liberal intellectuals in the press have faced concerted campaigns against them by Islamists. In 2005, hundreds of Shia Islamists protested outside the Al Ayam's offices after it published a cartoon on Iran's
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),
's election victory; while a Sunni Islamist campaign against the paper's editor, Isa Al Shaygi, was condemned at a conference of the
International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate m ...
: "The vicious and unprovoked attack on a respected and distinguished colleague is an example of the intolerant and undemocratic character of extremist politics that is increasingly being used against the free press." Various Bahraini liberal intellectuals in Bahrain strongly criticized the Bahraini government for "favoring extremist Islamic religious groups and hastening to respond to their demands at the expense of the interests of many social groups and various sectors of production," and expressed concern "about the course that Bahraini politics is taking in light of the fear of The decline of freedoms and the issuance of Taliban-ish laws that tighten the screws on them." All broadcast media is owned and managed by the government. In 2005, three website administrators were arrested by security forces. As such, many political websites and blogs are blocked by the government, and as of November 2005 the government requires all Bahraini websites to register with the Ministry of Information. In August 2006, Bahraini government authorities blocked internet access to
Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users ...
and
Google Video Google Video was a free video hosting service launched by the multinational technology company Google on January 25, 2005. Similar to YouTube, this platform allowed video clips to be hosted on Google servers and embedded on to other websites ...
. Recently they have blocked the popular site anonymous.com In October 2006, the Criminal Court issued a ban on the publication of any news, information or commentary on the series of allegations in the Bandargate scandal, which has continued to date. In the following weeks, the Ministry of Information ordered Bahraini
ISP An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
s to block several websites that violated the ban, include the websites of National Democratic Action (liberal opposition political society), the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Arab Network for Human Rights Information. The block order was accompanied by press statements from the Ministry threatening the website owners with legal action. In January 2009, Bahrain has started blocking a vastly increased number of sites through the
Information Affairs Authority The Information Affairs Authority (IAA) is Bahrain's ministry of information that was formed in July 2010. The president of IAA is appointed directly by the King of Bahrain and has the rank of a minister in the Bahrain government. From July 2 ...
(IAA). The new filtering has had a noticeable impact in internet access speeds for all traffic. On 31 August 2014, photographer Ahmed Humaidan was condemned to 10 years in prison after covering the 2011 uprising, allegedly for attacking the police.


Public gatherings

New political freedoms mean that public political activity and demonstrations are a common occurrence: according to the Ministry of Interior's figures there were 498 street demonstrations in 2006, up from 259 the previous year. In July 2005,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
said: Despite this prediction, the European University Institute, in its study of civil society in Bahrain in 2006, ''Voices in Parliament, Debates in Majalis, Banners on the Street: Avenues of Political Participation in Bahrain'', found that: Bahrain is the only country in the Middle East to have sacked a senior government minister as a direct result of a human rights issue. In 2004, when the security forces fired rubber bullets at a demonstration led by Shia religious leaders,
King Hamad Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salma ...
immediately fired the country's longstanding Interior Minister (and member of the royal family) Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.Voices in Parliament, Debates in Majalis, Banners on the Street: Avenues of Political Participation in Bahrain
, Katja Niethammar, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, 2006
While public demonstrations about various issues regularly take place, they have sometimes resulted in clashes between the police and youths. Fifteen Bahraini
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
activists were arrested between 16 and 20 May May 2007 following clashes the police. Thirteen remain in custody, (as of June 2007) according to the
Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is a human rights organization of Bahrain founded in March 2005 which was active in the Bahraini uprising. The group "organises training workshops, monitors and documents human rights violations ...
. In response to the problem presented by violent protestors, the Serbia-based human rights group, the Centre for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies, has been invited to Bahrain to teach demonstrators how to demonstrate peacefully. Under the scheme begun in 2007, peace camps will be set up in various trouble spots where specialists will advise on using protest strategies that do not involve violence. It is expected that a thousand youths will go through the training scheme. The Interior Ministry had to resist pressure in May 2007 from business leaders to 'crack down' on the rioters, as well as deal with concerns that local residents would take matters into their own hands and deal with the rioters themselves. Concerns about vigilantism resulted in a call by Central Municipal Council vice-chairman Abbas Mahfoodh for closer cooperation between politicians and the Interior Ministry to stamp out rioting, after residents of the town of Tubli confronted and chased away three masked men who allegedly planned to commit acts of sabotage using Molotov cocktail firebombs. In a report issued in 2006, the " Arab Network for Human Rights Information" (a member of the
International Freedom of Expression Exchange IFEX, formerly International Freedom of Expression Exchange, is a global network of 124 independent non-governmental organisations that work at a local, national, regional, or international level to defend and promote freedom of expression as a ...
) documented two cases of human rights activists being harassed by government authorities, through physical and sexual assaults, and fabricated cases. Since June 2016, the village of
Diraz Diraz,( ar, الدراز, also spelled Duraz) is the biggest and most populated village on the northwest coast of Bahrain. It lies to the east of Budaiya, west of Barbar and north of Bani Jamra. Two Dilmun era archaeological sites, namely Diraz ...
has been besieged by the Bahraini government. The siege included the Bahraini government from forcibly preventing Shias to perform the congregational Juma (Friday) prayer in the Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque in Diraz.


Apostasy and Blasphemy

The Bahraini Penal Code does not enlist a penalty for Apostasy or Atheism explicitly, but since Apostasy is
punishable by death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
in Islam, and since Bahrain's constitution states that Islam is the official religion and that Shari'a (Islamic law) is a principal source for legislation, as such, there is an established state religion where Islamic studies are mandatory in state schools, there is a religious control over family law or legislation on moral matters, Apostasy and Blasphemy are both outlawed and are punishable with a prison sentence, therefore Bahraini citizens born to Muslim parents cannot change their religion legally. Citizens who criticize or mock islamic scripture can be imprisoned for up to a whole year. On October 2020, an unidentified female Bahraini citizen who mocked islamic scripture on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, an ...
, was reported which got her subsequently arrested. On September 2022, Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Bahrain, said during his participation in Bashkortostan's celebrations of the 11th anniversary of the introduction of Islam: "There is no doubt that you have followed and are following with pride the pioneering role of Muslim peoples and major Islamic institutions around the world in ''confronting campaigns to spread atheism and moral decay and threaten families, communities and values''.”


Women, children and LGBT+ rights

King Hamad's moves to promote women's rights have been described by Amnesty International as representing a "New Dawn for Bahraini Women". In 2002, women voted for the first time in national elections and were given equal political rights. However, these top-down reforms have proven contentious, with calls for reform opposed by conservatives and the
royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pap ...
. In 2002 the decision by
King Hamad Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salma ...
to grant women the right to vote and equal political rights with men was opposed by a majority of Bahraini women, with 60% of women surveyed saying they disagreed with the move. Salafists have publicly restated their opposition to women's participation in parliament, and none of the Islamist parties that dominate parliament has ever fielded a female candidate. One woman won a seat in parliament in 2006, although her victory in the sparsely populated constituency in the south of the country was seen by some as engineered by the government which wanted to see a woman represented in Council of Deputies. A bill prompted by women's rights activists in 2005 to introduce a unified personal status law to protect women's rights in marriage, divorce and other family matters was opposed in a series of large-scale demonstrations organised by an alliance of salafists and Shia Islamists including
Al Wefaq Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest cou ...
and
Asalah The Al-Asalah Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الأصالة الإسلامية) is the main Sunni Salafist political party in Bahrain. The party is the political wing of the Islamic Education Society (''Al-Tarbiya Al-Islamiya'') which funds ...
. The demonstrations (and the implicit threat of escalation by those who organised them) forced the government to withdraw the law and was seen as a major defeat for women's rights activists. In response to sweeping poll victories by Islamists in 2006's election, Amnesty International Bahrain's head of campaigns, Fawzia Rabea, described the threat to women's rights as 'very serious' and called on women to do everything in their power to fight laws proposed by the new parliament that could limit their freedom. After newly elected
Al Wefaq Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest cou ...
MP, Sayed Abdulla Al A'ali, called for legislation to restrict women's employment rights by banning women from "male-orientated jobs", Ms Rabea said, "With this type of thinking I am sure we are facing a very big challenge with parliament. I am worried about this, it is very serious." Bahrain Women's Union president, Mariam Al Ruwaie, expressed surprised at the MP's suggestions, "This does not agree with His Majesty the King's reforms, which give women and men the same rights for education and work. In Bahrain's society women make up 26 per cent of the labour force, there are more girls in schools and universities than men and their results are better...I am worried because the parliament has not started and he r Al A'alihas said something like this. It is a bad start." Ghada Jamsheer, the most prominent women's rights activist in Bahrain has called the government's reforms "artificial and marginal". In a statement in December 2006 she said:


Women in the 2011 crackdown

Bahraini human rights groups say "hundreds of women have been detained" in recent weeks prior to 30 May 2011, "the first time in the wave of protests sweeping the Arab world that large groups of women have been targeted".


Child rights

In March 2021,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
and
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) is a non-profit human rights organisation based in London which promotes democratisation and human rights in Bahrain. It was founded by Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Alaa Shehabi and Hussain Abdullah ...
claimed that children aged between 11 and 17 were being held by Bahrain police over protest-related cases since mid-February 2020. The children were unnecessarily detained during the 10th anniversary of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising. The groups claimed that the children were beaten and threatened with rape and electric shocks by the Bahraini security forces. A 13-year-old child was hit on his head, while the police continued with the threats to rape him, give him electric shocks from a car battery, and beat his genitals. Prosecutors and police barred the parents and lawyers of children from being present during the interrogations as children were terrorized into confessing. A 15-year-old boy, Hussein Sayed Taher, was arbitrarily arrested at the age of 12 and sentenced to 8 years in prison. He went on a hunger strike in August 2021 as he was being ill-treated by Bahraini authorities. On 7 February 2022, the
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...
and
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) is a non-profit human rights organisation based in London which promotes democratisation and human rights in Bahrain. It was founded by Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Alaa Shehabi and Hussain Abdullah ...
(BIRD) said that the Bahrain authorities detained six children, aged 14 and 15, without any written justification. They were being held in a child welfare facility. The authorities denied the parents’ requests to visit their children and to be present during their interrogations. The children’s alleged offences occurred in December 2020 or January 2021, when they were 13 and 14. The Office of the Public Prosecution alleged that the boys damaged a car near a police station by throwing Molotov cocktails.


LGBT concerns

Homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
is not illegal ''per se''. Criminal sanctions against
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
people in Bahrain tend to come from several very broadly written laws against perceived "immorality".


Labor

According to the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when ...
annual report of 2006 unions are allowed to play an "effective role" with workers having the right to unionise. According to the ICTFU's annual report: The ICFTU's main concern in its 2006 report was that a new labour law would be far more restrictive of worker's rights. The ICFTU commented: A visiting delegate from the
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
at a seminar in Bahrain on trade unionism, held under the patronage of the Labour Ministry, described some of Bahrain's labour laws as out of line with international standards. According to the ILO international labour standards department deputy director, Karen Curtis, the current rules governing where strikes can be held in Bahrain were too restrictive. In response to the government's labour reforms, Bahrain's Crown Prince, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, was invited as guest of honour to the
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
's 96th session, where he used the opportunity of addressing the conference to announce that the first regional dialogue on workers' issues would be held in Bahrain. "This will offer countries that recruit manpower and those that provide it an opportunity to engage in an open and honest discussion on the impact of globalisation." The ILO Director General Juan Somavia has described the Crown Prince as an innovator with a modern vision of commitment to change and a belief in dialogue. Somavia has noted that Bahrain had been one of the pioneers of Decent Work Country Programmes, beginning with a pilot programme in 2002.


Migrant workers

According to Human Rights Watch, in as of 2011 there were more than 458,000 guest workers in Bahrain, many of whom experience prolonged periods of withheld wages, passport confiscation, unsafe housing, excessive work hours and physical abuse. Government protective measures are "largely ineffective." In August 2009 Bahrain adopted Decision 79/2009 permitting guest workers, except for domestics, more freedom to change jobs. According to Human Rights Watch, as of 2011 many workers were unaware of this right. In 2007, government passed legislation to ban construction and other outdoor work between noon and 4 pm during the summer – the hottest times of the day. The vast majority of those involved in this type of work being expatriate labourers from the Indian sub-continent. The move was backed by a "massive" labour inspection campaign by the Ministry of Labour to ensure that companies obeyed the decision. The ban was criticized by construction companies saying that the government's decision would delay their projects, but according to the Ministry of Labour, migrant workers' protection representatives and human rights activities have welcomed the move. An ICFTU Annual Report 2006 found that "Foreign workers harshly treated": Bahrain is considered a Tier 2 country on the US State Department Trafficking in Persons report, the second highest tier, and indicated that Bahrain "does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking," but is "making significant efforts to do so."


Greenwashing

On 4 November 2021, the UK politicians accused Bahrain of “textbook
greenwashing Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called "green sheen", is a form of advertising or marketing spin in which green PR and green marketing are deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization's products, aims ...
”, as the regime promoted its green credentials at
COP26 The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...
while causing ‘irreparable damage’ to the environment by participating in the Saudi-led Yemen war. In a joint letter sent to the crown prince
Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa ( ar, سلمان بن حمد آل خليفة; born 21 October 1969) is the Crown prince and the Prime Minister of Bahrain. He is also the deputy supreme commander of the Bahrain Defence Force. Early life and educ ...
, six British politicians and Members of Parliament stated that Bahrain's continued participation in the Saudi-led bombing campaigns destroyed ecosystems and contaminated the soil and water in
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and sha ...
, while contributing to the humanitarian disaster in the country. The signatories said that Bahrain's involvement in the war undermines its commitment to tackle climate change and protect the environment.


Academic whitewashing

In November 2021, the European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) reported that Bahrain is using institutional collaborations to hide abysmal human rights records. Such partnerships between an academic institution and an abusive regime are based on the concept of academic whitewashing. It may include donating funds, paying regular visits, engaging in spreading misinformation or teaching courses despite awareness of the countries’ human rights abuses. According to the report, Bahrain was using this strategy of academic whitewashing to conceal its record of systematic discrimination against Shia Muslims, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech. Bahrain's ambassador to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
maintains a relationship with
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
and
Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. With 7,560 students (includes all campuses, 7,379 at the Boston location alone), it is the eighth-largest university in metropolitan Boston. It was founded as a l ...
, while he has a history of overseeing human rights abuses committed by the Bahraini government. Besides, the UK based
University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancel ...
is also directly involved with Bahrain's Royal Academy of Policing (RAP), an organisation that has repeatedly been accused of engaging in torture. Another example is the Italian University
La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...
, which inaugurated a new professorship to honor Bahrain's King.


Human rights NGOs

There are several generic human rights NGOs in Bahrain, and other NGOs working in related fields such as women's rights, child rights and migrant labour. The two most prominent organisations have been the
Bahrain Human Rights Society The Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) was set up in 2002 following wide ranging political reforms by the Bahraini government to allow the functioning of independent human rights groups. In 2010 the government dissolved the BHRS's board of dire ...
and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, which have frequently been highly critical of one another, the Center accusing the Society of having been unduly close to government. Other NGOs active around 2008–10 included the
Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is a human rights organization of Bahrain founded in March 2005 which was active in the Bahraini uprising. The group "organises training workshops, monitors and documents human rights violations ...
, the Women's Petition Committee, the Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture, the Human Rights Office of the Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy, the Committee for Citizenship-less and the Coordinating Committee for the Defence of Political Detainees. As of 2011, several human rights NGOs, including at least the first three named above, had been closed or ordered to close, as was the Bahrain Migrant Workers' Protection Society. In the wake of the 2011 uprising, Physicians for Human Rights has become internationally recognized for its work exposing human rights violations in Bahrain, particularly regarding medical neutrality. The organization released a report titled ''Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients'', in April 2011 which detailed the government's persecution of medical professionals.
Shia rights watch Shia Rights Watch (SRW) is an organization that works to defend justice and rights for Shia Muslims around the world. It is the first of its kind, a non-governmental, not for profit, organization that bases research and advocacy from case studies a ...
, an NGO based in Washington, DC, has also stepped up to expose the violations against Shia Muslims in Bahrain. The organization published a report titled ''Shia Target of Inhumane Treatment: Bahrain Report 2011'', which documents the systematic oppressions of Shia Muslims by the government of Bahrain.


National human rights institution

In 2008, during the
Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) that emerged from the 2005 UN reform process.resolution 60/251of 3 April 2006, the UPR periodically examines the human rights performance of all ...
of its human rights record at the
UN Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
, the Government announced plans to create a
national human rights institution A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to broadly protect and promote human rights in a given country. The growth of such bodies has been encouraged by the Office of the United ...
for Bahrain. The
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nat ...
and the Foreign Ministry jointly organised a workshop in Manama, bringing in NHRI experts from
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
to meet a wide range of Bahraini civil society. The NHRI was duly established by the King on 11 November 2009 through Royal Order No. 46/2009. On 25 April 2010 Royal Order No. 16/2010 appointed 17 men and five women as the first members of the NHRI, including prominent human rights activists Salman al-Sayyid 'Ali Kamal al-Din, the former deputy secretary-general of the independent Bahrain Human Rights Society, as president. While the appointments were initially welcomed by
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, other NGOs including the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights questioned the credibility and independence of the new institution. The Center alleged that several of the 22 nominees held government appointments or were linked to bodies accused by the Society of operating as government fronts or
GONGO A government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) is a non-governmental organization that was set up or sponsored by a government in order to further its political interests and mimic the civic groups and civil society at home, or promote ...
s, such as the
Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society The Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society ( ar, جمعية مراقبة حقوق الإنسان البحرينية) is a Bahraini human rights organization established in November 2004 which claims to protect housemaids, and to fight for women's ri ...
, the Jurists Society and the Association of Public Freedoms and Human Rights. On 6 September 2010 Salman Kamal al-Din resigned as president, in protest at the institution's failure to criticise the arrests of pro-democracy activists. The current president of the institution is Maria Khoury and the
Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
is Dr. Khalifa Al-Fadhel. December 2016, Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor condemned Bahrain's policies which restrict the freedom of press and media. The violations include arresting, and torturing journalists who have a contrary political view to the government. According to the International Monitor, these journalists are accused of being involved in acts of sabotage or even in supporting terrorism. The decline of the level of press freedom has put Bahrain in the 142 out of 180 on the global press freedom rankings for 2016.


See also

*
Al Bandar report The Al Bander report refers to a political conspiracy by government officials in Bahrain to foment sectarian strife and marginalize the majority Shia community in the country. The conspiracy was led and financed by Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa ...
*
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; ar, مركز البحرين لحقوق الإنسان) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain,
*
Bahrain Human Rights Society The Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) was set up in 2002 following wide ranging political reforms by the Bahraini government to allow the functioning of independent human rights groups. In 2010 the government dissolved the BHRS's board of dire ...
*
Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society The Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society ( ar, جمعية مراقبة حقوق الإنسان البحرينية) is a Bahraini human rights organization established in November 2004 which claims to protect housemaids, and to fight for women's ri ...
* Human rights in Islamic countries * List of Bahrain-related topics


References


External links


Human Rights Watch: BahrainAmnesty International: BahrainBahrain Centre for Human RightsBahrain Human Rights Watch SocietyInternational Freedom of Expression Exchange: BahrainNational Democratic Institute: Bahrain
US Department of State
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions: BahrainArab Human Rights Index: Bahrain
* , Arab Press Freedom Watch Third Annual Conference, May 2004

Proceeding of a seminar held under the auspices of Lord Avebury, the vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group in the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in ...
, 15 December 2005
Review of Bahrain
by the
United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
's
Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) that emerged from the 2005 UN reform process.resolution 60/251of 3 April 2006, the UPR periodically examines the human rights performance of all ...
, 7 April 2008 {{2011 Bahraini uprising