The Bahraini government is using its “political isolation laws” and a series of other tactics to keep the opposition out of public office and other aspects of public life, according to a report by NGO Human Rights Watch.
The report also said that the law targets activists and human rights defenders who were arrested in the government’s large-scale crackdown during the peaceful 2011 pro-democracy and anti-government uprising and in its aftermath.
Monday’s report documents the alleged use of Bahrain’s 2018 laws to keep political opponents from running for parliament seats or even serving on the boards of governors of civic organisations, calling the practices “targeted marginalisation of opposition figures from social, political, civil, and economic life”.
“Bahrain has spent the last decade cracking down on peaceful opposition and the political isolation laws are yet another example of the government’s repression expanding into new spheres,” said Joey Shea, Middle East and North Africa researcher with the rights group, which is based in the United States.
