Report
Published on May 22, 2026
Bahrain’s ruling family has returned to its severe repression of a decade and a half ago in the context of the United States’ war on Iran. It has embarked on a fresh wave of arrests, stripping citizenship, and torture in custody.
Since the launch of the war on 28 February 2026, there has been a sweeping crackdown by Bahrain’s authorities. The tiny kingdom – the smallest Arab country – is ruled by a hereditary dictatorship. As in 2011, when its ruling family responded to mass pro-democracy protests with widespread violence, it has again turned on the country’s Shia majority. Prominent peaceful dissidents remain in prison since 2011.
Civil society organisations have documented more than 400 arrests since this year’s war began. Many are connected to peaceful protests, social media posts, or sharing footage of strikes. Some of those arrested have been charged with espionage and face the death penalty. There have been three rounds of mass convictions since the war began. The third round, on 12 May, saw 24 convictions, including on charges of “collaborating with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps”, and the sentencing of three people to life imprisonment. Enforced disappearance, one of the defining abuses of the 2011 crackdown, has again become a central feature of state repression.
Sayed Mohamed Al-Mosawi was 32 years old when Bahraini security forces stopped him at a checkpoint in Muharraq on 19 March 2026. Nine days later his parents were called to the Bahrain Defence Force Hospital and told he was dead. His body bore the marks of torture, and Bahrain’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has since acknowledged that he died as the result of a beating in custody. He died amid the most severe wave of state repression in Bahrain since 2011. The SIU has charged one security official with assault resulting in Al-Mosawi’s death.
Dr. Allen Keller is an internationally-recognized expert on torture who worked on the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) appointed by the king of Bahrain in 2011 to investigate allegations of torture in custody.
In a statement to Human Rights First, he said “Based on my review of the photographic and video evidence in the case of Sayed Mohamed al-Mosawi, I can confirm that the injuries are consistent with repeated blunt force trauma applied over a period of time. It appears that both manual force and external objects have been used.”
Fifteen years after Bahrain promised reform in response to the abuses of 2011, the death of Sayed Mohamed Al-Mosawi suggests the machinery of repression was never fully dismantled and is back. This is not an isolated incident to be quietly contained through the prosecution of a single officer. It sits within a far broader crackdown marked by mass arrests, enforced disappearances, and collective punishment, and exposes the extent to which Bahrain’s security institutions continue to operate without any accountability.
In the weeks since Al-Mosawi’s body was returned to his family, the repression campaign has accelerated and broadened. In a meeting on 19 April, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa directed immediate legal measures against those who had “betrayed the nation” and a review of who was entitled to Bahraini citizenship. The King’s announcement came soon after his meeting with the Foreign Minister of Kuwait, which is itself currently engaged in a mass citizenship revocation campaign. The Cabinet incorporated the King’s directive into its work programme the following day. On 27 April, the Ministry of Interior revoked the citizenship of 69 people for allegedly “sympathising with” or “glorifying” Iran’s attacks. All were Shia, from the Ajam community of Bahrainis of Persian heritage whose families have lived in Bahrain for generations. The revocation included not only those accused but their immediate family members: spouses, children, and grandchildren. At least four were infant children. The youngest person targeted to lose Bahraini citizenship in this round was reportedly 19 days old at the time.
A few days later, security forces arrested 41 people, at least 37 of them now confirmed to be Shia clerics, including senior religious scholars and seminary teachers such as Sheikh Mohammed Sanqour and Sheikh Ali Al-Sadadi, alleging links to the IRGC and to the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist). Most of them were arrested in raids conducted in the early hours of the morning. Mass arrests of Shia clerics on this scale have not been seen in Bahrain since 2011.
Downloads:
