• Human Rights in Bahrain

    Bahrain’s human rights situation remains critical in the wake of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 2011. The king established an independent inquiry to investigate these potential abuses, but it failed to fully implement the inquiry’s recommendations – namely holding senior officials accountable for crimes such as torture or for failing to free protesters who were jailed for exercising their right to free expression and peaceful assembly. Clashes between police and protesters continue, as do reports of deaths from beatings and excessive use of tear gas. The government continues to impose severe restrictions on access for international rights groups like Human Rights Watch. 

  • © 2011 Human Rights Watch
    Bahrain: Promises Unkept, Rights Still Violated
    Bahraini authorities have failed to carry out the key recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which submitted its recommendations on accountability and other human rights issues a year ago. The commission concluded that security forces and other government authorities had committed serious and systematic human rights violations in connection with the government’s suppression of pro-democracy protests in 2011.
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Bahrain

  • Bahrain: Promises Unkept, Rights Still Violated
    Nov 22, 2012
    Bahraini authorities have failed to carry out the key recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which submitted its recommendations on accountability and other human rights issues a year ago. The commission concluded that security forces and other government authorities had committed serious and systematic human rights violations in connection with the government’s suppression of pro-democracy protests in 2011.
  • Bahrain: Don’t Arbitrarily Revoke Citizenship
    Nov 8, 2012
    Bahraini authorities should rescind their announced decision to strip citizenship from 31 people for allegedly damaging the country’s security, Human Rights Watch said today. The people affected included opposition political activists, lawyers, and rights activists. The order was imposed without due process of law and will leave the majority of the people affected stateless.
  • Bahrain: Free Human Rights Defender
    Nov 6, 2012

    Bahraini authorities should immediately release the human rights activist Sayed Yusuf al-Muhafadha and drop all “illegal gathering” charges against him. On October 30, 2012, the government issued an indefinite ban on public protests.

  • Bahrain: Overturn Rights Activist’s Conviction
    Oct 14, 2012
    Bahrain’s court of appeal should overturn a lower court conviction for illegal assembly against the human rights activist Nabeel Rajab and cancel his three-year prison term. Because the authorities have presented no evidence that he advocated or participated in violence, his conviction is a violation of his right to freedom of peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said. The court is scheduled to hear Rajab’s appeal on October 16, 2012.
  • Bahrain: King Should Quash Convictions
    Oct 8, 2012
    Human Rights Watch called on King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to expunge the convictions and criminal records of nine medical personnel whose sentences were upheld by the appeals court because the convictions were based in part on confessions obtained by torture and in proceedings that were fundamentally unfair.
  • Bahrain: Abuse of Migrant Workers Despite Reforms
    Sep 30, 2012
    Hundreds of thousands of mostly South Asian migrant workers in Bahrain face exploitation and abuse despite government reforms intended to protect them, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today.
  • Bahrain: Act on UN Human Rights Commitments
    Sep 18, 2012
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of Bahrain's UPR
    Sep 18, 2012
    The Human Rights Council’s review of Bahrain comes at a time when the government continues to suppress peaceful protests, harass and prosecute human rights defenders, and arbitrarily arrest and detain numerous opposition leaders and protesters for demanding respect for their fundamental human rights.
  • Letter to the Honorable Hillary R. Clinton on the Leahy Law and Human Rights Violations in Bahrain
    Sep 10, 2012
    We are writing to alert you to credible reports that the security forces of the Government of Bahrain continue to engage in human rights violations against non-violent, pro-democracy protesters and to urge you to immediately suspend further U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to the responsible units, as required by law.
  • Bahrain: Free Rights Activist Jailed for ‘Illegal Gatherings’
    Aug 16, 2012
    Bahraini authorities should immediately release the human rights activist Nabeel Rajab and overturn his conviction for organizing and participating in “illegal” demonstrations. His conviction is a violation of his right to freedom of assembly. Rajab is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and a member of the advisory committee of the Human Rights Watch Middle East Division.
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