(Beirut) – Bahraini authorities have arrested and harassed scores of participants in pro-Palestinian protests across the country since October 2023, Human Rights Watch announced today.
The protests are in response to Israel’s grave violations in the Gaza Strip, which have worsened the humanitarian crisis following the October 7 Hamas-led attack that killed hundreds of civilians in Israel. Ta. As of December 15, Bahraini authorities had arrested at least 57 people, including at least 25 children, in connection with the protests, according to Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB). At least one person was targeted in a social media post. According to the ADHRB, 36 people, including 23 children, have not yet been released. Through interviews, Human Rights Watch confirmed the arrests of demonstrators and children.
“The Bahraini authorities have used repression mechanisms not only against peaceful criticism of the authoritarian rule, but also against Bahrainis demonstrating in solidarity with the Palestinians, who face shelling, starvation and apartheid. ” said Nik Jafarnia, Bahrain and Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Bahraini authorities are certainly in line with other countries in the region in imprisoning children for peaceful activities.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed the mother of three arrested children and an 18-year-old boy. Human Rights Watch also spoke with two activists working with Bahrain. civil society It examined photos and videos of the protests, as well as photos showing violence by authorities against protesters, including children.
One activist said police did not detain any protesters during the first two weeks of protests, but called some protesters to police stations for questioning. They said that near the end of October, riot police began using tear gas, stun grenades, batons, and shrapnel against demonstrators, as well as arresting and detaining demonstrators.
Human Rights Watch reviewed photos shared directly with researchers that showed bruises and scars on detainees’ bodies, clearly the result of abuse by police. One activist said that in one incident, five riot police officers severely beat a man they had arrested, “placing their knees against his ribcage and running them over his head with their shoes.”
Authorities also summoned some people for questioning based on pro-Palestinian posts on social media, including Ebrahim Sharif on December 20. Sharif is a well-known Bahraini opposition leader and political activist who was previously imprisoned for five years for participating in rallies. During pro-democracy protests in 2011, he was arrested after posting on social media criticizing Bahrain’s decision to join a coalition of nations fighting attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthis. One activist said authorities rejected two applications for marches, one along a public road and one in a park, citing “security reasons”.
One woman said her 15-year-old son was arrested even though he had not taken part in any protests. She said her son went out to dinner with her friends on the night of Oct. 27 and was arrested later that night. He told her that there had been a protest in the area where she was having dinner and that a petrol bomb had been thrown on her way home. He and his friends got caught in the middle of the crowd and were arrested by riot police. “There’s no reason for them to arrest him,” she said. “This random arrest has ruined his future.”
He was arrested on Friday and was not heard from again until Sunday when he called to inform them that he was being transferred from Citra Police Station to Dry Dock Detention Center. It is a detention center where children under the age of 21 and adults are held before trial. . “I called him 10 minutes before 8 to 8:30. [p.m., on Friday] He said he was at the ice cream shop so I called again after 8:30. [p.m.] But he didn’t come out,” she said.
Three other women said their sons were arrested while participating in pro-Palestinian marches across Bahrain.
The 17-year-old boy’s mother said her son was arrested during a march on November 3 and taken to a dry dock detention center. He called his mother for the first time when he arrived at the facility the next day, telling her that he had not eaten since his arrest the night before.
She said authorities charged her son with possessing a Molotov cocktail and participating in a protest, but he denied possessing a Molotov cocktail.
The mother of a 16-year-old boy arrested during a protest on November 10 said authorities had not told her son what crime he was being charged with.
The families of the three boys are not allowed to visit them while they are in custody. The 17-year-old boy’s mother said her son told her:[i]There was a sign on the prison wall saying no visitors, and her family was not allowed to send clothes or other items to her son. She also said her son had a metal rod in his arm “due to an accident” and was supposed to take it out, but was unable to do so because she was in custody.
The conditions and treatment of juveniles in prison are unknown because they cannot speak freely to their families or lawyers, but one activist said authorities tortured those arrested at protests, including children. Ta. ADHRB also reported that some of those arrested were “subjected to mental and physical torture to forcefully extract confessions.” Human Rights Watch has previously documented torture by Bahraini security officials, including against children.
The mothers said their sons’ detention was extended without any explanation or trial.
The 17-year-old’s mother said her son was “originally scheduled to be detained for a week,” but his detention was extended each time he went to meet with prosecutors.
The mother of a 16-year-old girl said the reason her family did not hire a lawyer was because “everyone said that lawyers would not do anything for her other than get information about extending her detention.”
The 17-year-old and 15-year-old boy have lawyers, but the 17-year-old’s mother said prosecutors changed the meeting date without informing either the boys or their lawyers. [he] Attended without legal representation. ” Neither attorney received a document listing the charges.
The 18-year-old was arrested one night during a pro-Palestinian protest, but was released without charge the next morning. His mother told him that when police arrested him, they were watching him, she said.[The police] We put him in the Jeep and drove him around our town. [pointing out houses and identifying the residents], to show him that they know everything. They also said that his brother knew what he was doing and was working with him. ”
Police also made her son promise never to participate in any protests again before releasing him, she said. “After he was arrested…the police followed him.” [him] “At work and at home, I’m constantly texting and calling people, sometimes asking if they’re going to a protest,” she added.
Children should not be detained except as a last resort and for appropriate short periods.
Bahrain normalized diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020. The crackdown on pro-Palestinian speech by Bahraini authorities is the latest example of the authorities’ systematic crackdown on freedom of expression, assembly, and religion. Just recently, Bahraini authorities sentenced 13 men to prison after an unfair trial in which they were prosecuted in response to a peaceful sit-in protest inside a prison. Many human rights defenders have been unjustly imprisoned since taking part in the 2011 pro-democracy protests and have been denied medical care despite urgent health conditions.
Bahrain is not alone in suppressing pro-Palestinian speech. Several European Union countries, including France and Germany, and the United States have also cracked down on, and in some cases outright banned, pro-Palestinian speech and organizations, activities that constitute a blatant violation of free speech.
“The Bahraini government is so afraid of the legitimate demands of its own people that it cannot silence even the children who are protesting for their freedom, let alone the freedom of others,” Jafarnia said.