SALAM Communicates the Latest Regarding the Curtail of the Freedom of Opinion and Civil Institutions in Bahrain to Various Members of the International Community

Press Release

Bahrain SALAM for Human Rights has catalogued the latest obstacles the Bahraini Government has put in place to stifle the freedom of civil institutions in Bahrain, and sent it to various members of the international community including the US Congress, UK Foreign Office, a number of embassies and various human rights organisations.

Some of the difficulties elaborated on in the letter were the onerous requirement of all institutions to now report to the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs prior to any meeting with foreign representatives, and have a Ministry of foreign affairs representative attend all meetings. This can only be described as an exaggerated reaction to the US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor’s meeting with members of Al-Wefaq party who was later expelled from Bahrain last month.

The letter also elaborated on the recent case being lodged by the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs for the closure of Al-Wefaq party, and the pursuance of the same fate for the Wa’ad party. More worrying, the targeting of Wa’ad seems to be solely for the re-election of their Secretary-General, Ibrahim Sharif who is in jail.

These latest assaults against civil institutional freedoms follow a long line of closures and court cases. The letter listed previous closures, mainly opposition and religious -related institutions, such as the Islamic Scholars Council, Islamic Works party, Teachers Society, National Democratic Action party, Haqq party, and many others.

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