Decade of Oppression: Authoritarianism in Bahrain, 2011-2021 | A comprehensive report on the occasion of a decade of Arab Spring in Bahrain

Decade of Oppression:
Authoritarianism in Bahrain, 2011-2021

A comprehensive report on the occasion of a decade of Arab Spring in Bahrain

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This report is a ten-year retrospective on the condition of human rights, democratic representation, and the rule of law in Bahrain since the 2011 Uprising and the violent crackdown by security forces that followed. It has drawn upon Bahrain’s social and political history to examine and explain why and how the situation there has worsened since liberal-democratic reforms were promised by King Hamad Isa bin Al Khalifa, in accordance with the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in 2011.
Salam for Democracy and Human Rights has examined several areas where the Government of Bahrain has failed to reform: guaranteeing fundamental freedoms of speech, expression and political assembly, endeavouring to end sectarianism and religious discrimination, ending authoritarian, inhumane and illegal practices such as torture, enforced disappearances and the revocation of nationality, and providing accountability and redress to perpetrators and victims over the past decade. Our research shows that the Government of Bahrain has attempted to create a narrative of reform for international audiences whilst failing to meet the expectations set by the UN and tightening its control over numerous facets of everyday life in Bahrain. Whilst promising and advertising reform, Bahrain has instead become a security state.