Bahrain Mirror: SALAM for Democracy & Human Rights issued a new report entitled "Kingdom of Persecution". The report aimed at monitoring human rights violations committed against Shiite clerics in Bahrain between the years 2011 and 2017.

The organization said that this report monitored the authorities' violations against Shiite clerics. These violations included death sentences, life imprisonment, citizenship revocation, enforced deportation, arbitrary detention, harsh prison sentences, where many religious scholars are subjected to humiliation and physical torture.

This report revealed that the security authorities in Bahrain summoned 156 Shiite religious clerics only for speeches, ideological tendencies or political views. The report likewise showed that 89 religious scholars have been arbitrarily arrested by the security authorities. Arbitrary detention's procedures varied between detention via land and airport borders, police summonses, road checkpoints, and house raids. Where on a judicial level, 50 religious scholars have been sentenced in various cases to harsh sentences ranging between death sentences, life imprisonment, citizenship revocation and huge fines.

The report further stated that the authorities continued to violate the rights of religious scholars where it sentenced 3 to death, 8 life imprisonment, and worked on revoking the citizenship of 19 religious scholars without them having access to fair judiciary in an absolute flaw to international treaties and charters. Among those who their nationality been revoked are three of the great religious scholars of Bahrain, whom been ranked Ayatollah: Sheikh Isa Qassim, Sheikh Mohammed Sanad and Sheikh Hussain Najati, who was forcibly deported in April 2014

Moreover, the report noted that the authorities unjustifiably interfered with stopping 5 Shiites clerics from delivering religious speeches or the practice of any preaching role inside mosques when performing religious duties.

"The total number of violations since 2011 to 2017 counted 313 violations. The augmented targeting of Shiite clerics highlights the lack of serious efforts toward a space full of freedom of religion and belief inside the country. This also indicates that the authorities have no meaningful initiatives towards any reform on human rights level specially that of related to freedom of religion and belief", elaborated Sayed Abbas Shubbar, head of Religious Freedoms Committee.

To view the report please click here

Arabic Version