As the United States and Israel carry out thousands of strikes on Iran and Iran carries out attacks across the Middle East, detainees in the region face even greater risks than usual. In Bahrain, an island state that Iranian forces have repeatedly attacked, the authorities should immediately release detainees.
Many of those behind bars in Bahrain are arbitrarily detained for exercising their freedom of expression. Some, including leaders of the 2011 pro-democracy protests, have been held for nearly 15 years. Others have been detained in recent days in crackdowns on now-banned protests and demonstrations against the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran, or in relation to social media posts with photos and videos showing the impacts of Iranian strikes in the country. All those arbitrarily or otherwise unlawfully detained should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Several detainees have urgent healthcare needs but have been refused adequate care. A Danish-Bahraini human rights defender, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, and Sheikh Mohammed Habib al-Muqdad, a dual Swedish-Bahraini national, both of whom have been arbitrarily detained since 2011, are in their 60s and have severe health issues from torture and long-term imprisonment. Authorities have continued to deny them adequate access to health care.
Human Rights Watch has received reports from prisoners at both Dry Dock and Jau prisons of nearby explosions during attacks by Iranian forces.
Witnesses in Bahrain report that airstrikes have damaged residential areas as well as Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), an aluminum smelter only 11 kilometers from Jau prison where al-Khawaja and al-Muqdad are held.
In the worst-case scenario, prisons may also be directly targeted, as Evin prison in Iran was by Israeli forces in June 2025. It could also resemble the aftermath of that attack, when Iranian authorities subjected detainees to enforced disappearances and ill-treatment, including by holding them in cruel conditions and denying them access to sufficient food, potable water, medical care, and any means of communication.
Nobody should be detained in Bahrain or elsewhere for exercising their right to peaceful expression. Now, as Bahrain continues to be caught up in the conflict between Iran and the US and Israel, it’s more important than ever for arbitrarily detained prisoners to be unconditionally released, and for others to be released temporarily on humanitarian grounds.
