In its statement, the Assembly warned that the international community’s silence or minimal response to this dangerous practice will only embolden repressive regimes to further violate civil rights and impose collective punishment across the region.
The full text of the statement reads as follows:
The Ahlulbayt World Assembly expresses its deep concern and condemns in the strongest terms the illegal, arbitrary and human rights-violating measure by the Bahraini government in stripping 69 of its citizens of their nationality, along with the arrest of a number of prominent scholars in that country and the revocation of parliamentary membership of three elected representatives.
According to credible reports, among those targeted are clerics, eulogists, social activists, women, men and even children and infants, who have been deprived of their natural right to citizenship without any judicial process, without legal investigation, and outside the jurisdiction of the judiciary, solely on the basis of a decree by the King of Bahrain. This measure is a clear instance of collective punishment and extrajudicial penalty, which is unacceptable in any civilized legal system.
From the perspective of international law, the right to nationality is among the most fundamental rights of every individual. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reflects customary international law, explicitly states: “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.” The Bahraini government’s action in revoking citizenship without fair trial and without distinguishing between the accused and their family members — particularly children and infants who bear no role in the attributed charges — constitutes a flagrant violation of the country’s international obligations under Article 24(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as Articles 7 and 8 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The inclusion of infants in this decision not only contravenes human rights standards but amounts to forced statelessness and collective punishment, which has been strictly prohibited by United Nations monitoring bodies.
The Ahlulbayt World Assembly emphasizes that the repeated and baseless accusations of supporting Iran or spying for foreign entities are merely a pretext for suppressing dissidents and systematically violating civil rights in Bahrain. Such a repressive approach evokes the inhumane conduct of totalitarian systems and completely discredits any claim of the rule of law in Bahrain. This measure also violates the principle of non-discrimination and the principle of proportionality in punishment, as depriving children and infants of nationality bears no relation whatsoever to the political charges attributed to their parents.
The Ahlulbayt World Assembly calls upon all human rights monitoring bodies of the United Nations, particularly the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, along with grand religious authorities and eminent scholars, to formally and immediately condemn this inhumane and illegal action and to demand that the Bahraini government, without any delay, restore the nationality of all affected individuals — especially children and infants — and declare that no person in Bahrain shall be deprived of their natural right to nationality due to family affiliation or political beliefs. The silence or minimal action of the international community in the face of this dangerous practice will only embolden repressive regimes to further violate civil rights and promote collective punishment in the region.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, while declaring its solidarity with the affected families and resolutely condemning this anti-human act, warns of the dangerous consequences of the spread of such practices and stresses the necessity for all countries to adhere to human rights standards and the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality.
It is also worth noting that following the American and Zionist regime’s assault on the Islamic Republic of Iran and the onset of the third imposed war, the self-serving rulers and American colonies in the region — at the height of their disgrace and desperation, and out of fear of the collapse of their shaky thrones and fragile dominion — have imposed unprecedented restrictions and pressures, criminalizing sympathy shown by Shia Muslims toward the noble Iranian nation in mourning the loss of its great leader. In a campaign of intimidation against Shia communities, even those who used the Quranic verse of Istirja, “Indeed we belong to Allah and indeed to Him we return,” in their phone profiles or messages have been subjected to prosecution, arrest, citizenship revocation and expulsion from the country.
