Baqer Darwish, media director of the Bahrain Human Rights Society, told a news conference in Qom that the Bahraini regime has committed systemic human rights violations against Shia Muslims since 2011. He said over 20,000 people, mostly Shia, have been arrested solely for expressing their opinions, with many subjected to torture and hundreds handed long prison terms.
“The tyrannical regime grants no freedom of speech to anyone,” Darwish said. He noted that even ordinary citizens who posted condolences or black flags following the demise of Imam Khamenei have been severely repressed, detained, and imprisoned.
Referring to the US-Israeli war on Iran, Darwish said targeting civilians, including children and students, and destroying residential homes, medical centers, and cultural sites constitutes a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and amounts to international war crimes. He cited the attack on a school in Minab, where over 100 students were martyred, as a horrific example.
“The US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain faces public opposition, and the Bahraini people demand the withdrawal of American forces from their country,” he stressed.
Arab regimes use war as pretext to target Shia citizens
Senior cleric Seyyed Abbas Shubbar told the same gathering that rulers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain are using flimsy pretexts to detain Shia citizens in the wake of the regional war.
“In recent days and weeks, many religious, seminary, and academic figures from Shia communities across several Persian Gulf states have been summoned, interrogated, and detained without any clear charges,” he said.
Shubbar noted that the UAE’s state security service has arrested a number of Shia citizens on accusations of allegiance to “Velayat-e Faqih” and alleged involvement in “covert activities” aimed at undermining national unity and destabilizing the country through “systematic sabotage.”
He added that the UAE has also banned the publication of any images or footage of Iranian strikes on US interests within its territory and has carried out arrests in this regard.
Over 5,000 political prisoners languish in Bahraini jails
Shubbar further stated that the Al Khalifah regime has killed thousands of Shias over the past decade while arresting, imprisoning, and stripping the citizenship of political dissidents and their leaders. According to released figures, over 5,000 political prisoners are held in Bahraini jails, some sentenced to life imprisonment or even death on fabricated charges.
He explained that after normalizing ties with the Zionist regime in September 2020, Al Khalifah tightened the noose around Shia to suppress any voices opposing Israeli crimes in the occupied territories.
“Now, as the Zionist and American enemies attack Iran, Bahrain’s Shia citizens stand on the right side of history and support Iran, contrary to the Al Khalifah regime. The oppressive rulers are trying to crush any pro-Iran protests by spreading an atmosphere of fear and terror across the country,” Shubbar concluded.
