While reports of torture and other ill-treatment decreased compared to the previous year, the rights of persons deprived of their liberty were violated. Authorities continued to harass and prosecute critics, suppressed some peaceful protests, and twice blocked Shia Muslims from accessing Bahrain’s main Shia mosque.
background
In March, Bahrain hosted the general assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an organization that brings together elected legislators from around the world. In late August, Bahrain invited members of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to visit the country, but they canceled the visit on September 13, one day before it was to begin. On the same day, Bahrain signed new agreements with the United States to strengthen military and commercial ties.
On September 15, Bahraini authorities at a British airport prevented a delegation including exiled human rights activist Mariam Al Khawaja and leaders of Amnesty International, Frontline Defenders and ActionAid Denmark from boarding a flight to Bahrain.1
Rights of detainees
Until September, authorities at Jaw Prison confined inmates to solitary confinement for 23 hours a day and prohibited hundreds of Shia inmates convicted of violent or nonviolent opposition to the government from holding collective religious rituals in the prison prayer room, restrictions that did not apply to other inmates. Prison authorities sometimes arbitrarily and punitively canceled inmates’ telephone and visitation access.
From August 7 to September 11, hundreds of Shiite prisoners went on hunger strike to protest these mistreatment, which violate the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Prison authorities subsequently agreed to better conditions, allowing prisoners two hours a day out of their cells, two daily communal prayers in a prayer room with up to 50 people, and increased phone calls and visits.
Torture and other ill-treatment
Reports of torture and other ill-treatment decreased compared to the previous year.
On August 15, guards at Jaw Prison pepper-sprayed and assaulted inmate Ahmed Jaafar after he demanded to meet with a senior officer to discuss the hunger strikers’ demands.
Throughout the year prison authorities denied imprisoned human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja adequate medical care, arbitrarily canceling his hospital appointments and forcing him to wait for hours while detained in a vehicle with no windows, ventilation, or air conditioning.2
Unfair trial
On September 26, a court convicted 13 of 65 defendants in a mass trial of prisoners for allegedly assaulting a prison guard at Jaw Prison on April 17, 2021. Contemporaneous testimony from at least five prisoners, and at least four during interrogation, have been leaked, stating that it was the guard who attacked the prisoner, and not the other way around.
Workers’ rights
In July, Bahrain’s king-appointed senate proposed setting a legal ceiling on domestic workers’ salaries of 120 Bahraini dinars ($320) per month. Like other migrant workers, domestic workers are not protected by a minimum wage.
Even as the effects of climate change are beginning to be felt, with Bahrain recording its hottest August in 100 years, the government has failed to reform weak heat protection regulations, increasing the health risks to outdoor workers exposed to heat stress.
The right to a healthy environment
According to World Bank data, Bahrain remains among the top five countries in the world for carbon dioxide emissions per capita. Bahrain’s current National Contribution Plan under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, set in October 2021, does not mention achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, but only sets a “10% renewable energy target by 2025.”
Freedom of Expression
Bahraini authorities continued to harass and unfairly prosecute critics.
On March 30, a court convicted three members of the secular religious organization Al-Tajdid Association of “insulting” Islamic leaders and sentenced them to one year in prison. After an appeals court upheld the verdict on May 21, authorities arrested two of the defendants, who still reside in Bahrain.
On May 22, police summoned Shiite cleric Mohammed Sankool for delivering a sermon criticizing the inhuman treatment of prisoners. Authorities interrogated Sankool for three days and released him without charge on May 25.
On December 20, authorities detained opposition activist Ebrahim Sharif for tweets criticizing government policies toward Israel, Palestine, the United States, and the Red Sea. Authorities released Sharif on December 27 and suspended prosecution without dropping the charges.
Freedom of Religion and Belief
In June security forces twice prevented non-residents of Al-Duraz from attending Friday prayers at Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque, the most important Shia place of worship in the country. On June 9 and 16, three weeks after Mohammed Sankour’s arrest, police blocked roads leading to Al-Duraz, turning away Shia commuters from other areas but allowing non-Shia travelers through (see above).
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
The government responded inconsistently to peaceful protests, suppressing some but not others.
Authorities took no action to prevent or disperse marches and other street protests that took place periodically in the predominantly Shiite suburbs west of the capital, Manama. These marches, held during the prisoner hunger strike in August and September, approached without repercussions the Budaiya highway, a key site of the 2011 mass protests.
However, on other occasions, the government has summoned, warned, threatened, or arrested actual or potential protesters. For example, in February the government summoned several family members of Bahrainis who had been imprisoned or killed by government forces in the past, warning them not to protest near the anniversary of the 2011 uprising. On 21 February, a police station in Manama’s Shiite suburb of Sanabis summoned Jameel Taher al-Samia, the father of a young man executed in 2017, and forced him to sign a statement pledging not to take part in any demonstrations. On 5 March, police arrested Hajer Mansour, Ali Muhanna, Munir Mushaimah, and Naja Yusuf (all former prisoners or family members of prisoners) for peacefully protesting next to the Bahraini Formula One race track. They were released a few hours later without charge.
Women and Girls’ Rights
In a positive step, in June Bahrain repealed article 353 of its penal code, which allowed rapists to avoid prosecution if they married their victims.
Article 4 of the Bahraini Nationality Law remains unchanged, which states that only men can pass on Bahraini nationality to their children.
“Bahrain: Mariam Al Khawaja prevented from boarding flight to demand release of father”, September 15 “Bahrain: Prisoner of conscience on hunger strike: Abdulhadi Al Khawaja”, August 17
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