Response to Independent Commission Should Include Investigating Officials

DECEMBER 6, 2011

(New York) – Bahraini authorities should quickly address the systematic and egregious rights violations documented by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, Human Rights Watch said today. As a first step, the government should immediately release hundreds of people wrongfully detained or convicted following unfair trials. And it should investigate high-level officials responsible for serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said.

76 children between the prisoners in the latest security crackdown, making them 21% of the total detainees, whose numbers swelled to 355

Special Forces attack random people, especially children who are at risk of excessive use of force, rubber bullets and tear gas. Many obtained serious injuries as a result.

November 20, 2010 - on the occasion of Universal Children's Day

“A child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child”
Article I of the International Convention for the Rights of the Child

Names of children and minors detained, the charges against them, and their ages
(a full list of names at the bottom of the page)

Click to View Larger

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights is following with grave concern the serious deterioration of security that comes within the framework of the ongoing crackdown launched by the authority against political activists and human rights defenders as well as all the Shiite villages and areas. The Center is also concerned about its impact and reflection on the human rights situation in the country, particularly in relevance to children. Children were part of the victims of this campaign which included the widespread waves of arbitrary arrests, continuous kidnappings, enforced disappearances, torture which is physical, psychological and sexual. It is believed that the National Security Apparatus is responsible for most of these cases, as well as the continuous physical assaults on the children of Bahraini villages by the Special Forces that are made up of foreign mercenaries. There are 76 children among the detainees from the latest security crackdown, which puts them at 21% of the total detainees, whose numbers swelled to 355. This raises concerns about the fate and future of these children who as a result of these conditions are deprived of their education, and an uncertain future which awaits them just like the hundreds of children, who were deprived from schooling and university education during the period of events prompted the dissolving of parliament in the nineties of the last century.

While Bahraini law prohibits those who are less than twenty-one years of the right to participate in the election on grounds of how young they are, which limits their ability to make sound and correct decisions. At the same time, the authorities hold children, who have reached the age of fifteen, full criminal responsibility and like adults they take full responsibility.

By NOOR TOORANI , Posted on » Friday, August 06, 2010

RIGHTS activists are calling on the Bahrain government to speed up the implementation of international human right treaties that protect women and migrant workers.

However, a senior government official denied claims that Bahrain was stalling - saying the country was working according to a four-year plan.

Bahrain
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2007
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 11, 2008

Bahrain is a monarchy with a population of approximately 725,000, approximately 430,000 of whom are citizens, according to official figures. King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa is the head of state and all branches of government. The king appoints a cabinet of ministers, half of whom are members of the Al‑Khalifa royal family. The 2002 constitution reinstated a legislative body with one elected chamber, the Council of Deputies, and one appointed chamber, the Shura Council. All political societies participated in the November and December 2006 parliamentary and municipal elections. Trained local observers did not report significant problems during the elections, although there were allegations that the government manipulated general poll center vote counts in some cases and gerrymandered political districts. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL- Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review - Geneva, 7-18 April 2008

25 February 2008

Bahrain
This report is a summary of 12 stakeholders’ submissions1 to the universal periodic review. It follows the structure of the general guidelines adopted by the Human Rights Council. It does not contain any opinions, views or suggestions of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), nor any judgment or determination in relation to specific claims. Information included therein has been systematically referenced in endnotes and, to the extent possible, original text submitted has not been altered. Lack of information or focus on specific issues is due to the absence of submissions by stakeholders regarding these particular issues.
All submissions received are available on OHCHR website. The periodicity of the review for the first cycle being of four years, information reflected in this report mostly relates to events occurred after 1 January 2004.

By Bill Law
Reporter, BBC Crossing Continents

Human rights activists in the Gulf state of Bahrain are calling on the government to release 15 protesters jailed in late December.

They say the prisoners, who are Shia Muslims, have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse while in jail.
Bahrain is unique in all the states of the Arabian Peninsula in that it has a Shia majority, roughly 65% of the population. But the ruling elite is Sunni. Shia Bahrainis say they have been discriminated against for years.

Bahrain: 19 September 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bahrain7jul07,1,7501416,full.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

From the Los Angeles Times
Strategic rift in Bahrain's royal court
Some members of the ruling family reportedly back hard-line Sunni groups; others advise helping disenfranchised Shiites.
By Borzou Daragahi
Times Staff Writer

July 7, 2007

MANAMA, BAHRAIN — Leading members of Bahrain's royal family have thrown their weight behind hard-line Sunni Muslim groups, some of whom share the outlook of Al Qaeda, in an attempt to counter a perceived Shiite threat, government officials and critics say.

Documentary produced by opposition political societies about the illegal naturalization of tens of thousands of Saudi citizens belonging to the Dawasir tribe resident in the Saudi city of Dammam. Consists of interviews from June 2002 with several Saudi recipients of Bahraini passports, detailing how they received Bahraini nationality, how many people received them, and their participation in Bahraini elections.

A transcript of the film can be found here.

CNN's Hala Gorani looks at the poor 'hidden' population of Bahrain.
Inside the Middle East, June 2007.

Includes interview with BCHR vice-president, Nabeel Rajab.