The Persecution of Religions in Bahrain

In light of the recent events in Bahrain and the disregard of the ruling authorities in Manama for local and international laws and the involvement of systematic violations of religious freedoms according to experts of the United Nations and international organizations concerned with the file of religious freedoms. Bahrain Interfaith, in cooperation with Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and Amnesty International, organized a conference entitled “Religious persecution in Bahrain “. The conference was attended by human rights and media personalities.
The conference was held in Beirut, on Monday July 15. It focused on restrictions on freedom of expression and belief in Bahrain’s prisons. From Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Ghiwa Faroukh spoke about restrictions on religious freedoms and stressed that “Bahraini prisons, overcrowded against detainees on political and legal backgrounds, in the country do not take into consideration or include the basic rules for the protection of human rights.”
The lawyer Abbas Dbouk called on to “find effective international mechanisms according to high standards in the face of any authority that violates the human rights of individuals in their basic rights and freedoms.”
Amnesty International representative Devine Kenny also spoke of discriminatory policies against Shi’a referring to the following three high-profile cases: the denaturalization of Sheikh Hussein Najati in 2011, the destruction of Shi’a places of worship in 2011, and the denaturalization of Sheikh Issa Qasim in 2016.
Soumaya al-Haj Hassan, on behalf of Bahrain Interfaith, spoke of the US State Department’s recent report on religious freedoms in Bahrain and noted that the Shiites in Bahrain continue to be discriminated against across jobs, education and the judiciary. She added that Shi’a prisoners are also subjected to humiliation, persecution, ill treatment and denial of treatment.