Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain Center for Human Rights issued a report about the violations witnessed in Ashura season in 2018. The report stressed that the Bahraini Constitution guarantees the constitutional freedoms, however, things are different in reality.

The report said that the Bahraini security authorities practiced several violations against religious rites of the Shia sect, and noted "the attack on Ashura and repeated summons for preachers and eulogy citers over the background of their speeches or poems, as well as the arrest of a number of them on charges of inciting hatred against the regime."

It added that the charges against them were "loose (...). The Bahraini authorities use them as a pretext to detain citizens to try the intentions without evidences."

According to the report, the security authorities summoned 17 preachers and arrested 5 of them after interrogating them about the content of their speeches and some of the historical events they mentioned. The Interior Ministry also summoned 7 eulogy citers and arrested 4 of them after accusing them of inciting hatred against the regime.

On the level of obsequies' organizers, the Ministry of Interior summoned several Hussainiat (Shia congregation halls) organizers and arrested 4 of them after accusing them of "inciting hatred against the regime". In addition, the Jaffaria endowments issued a decision closing Imam Al-Rida obsequy.

"Although Ashura banners did not go beyond the borders of the villages and Shiite areas, the interior ministry removed most of them, which led to protests followed by repression by policemen," the report said.

The report tackled the attack by police forces on a march which the residents used to organize on the 10th of Muharram every year. It noted that the authorities used tear gas and shotgun pellets to disperse protestors.

Bahrain Center for Human Rights called to "release all preachers, eulogy citers and obsequies' organizers who were arrested for exercising their legitimate right to freedom of religion and religious rituals, stop targeting them and hold accountable those responsible for the violations that took place during Ashura season regardless of their positions."

Arabic Version