Bahrain’s systematic discrimination against Shiite majority

Leading Bahraini rights activist, Jawad Parweez, told the 36th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva that Manama is continuing its systematic discrimination and persecution of Bahrain’s Shias majority.

Leading Bahraini rights activist, Jawad Parweez, told the 36th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva that Manama is continuing its systematic discrimination and persecution of Bahrain’s Shias majority.

Delivering an oral intervention on behalf of the American for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), Parweez said that the regime “actively targets Shia clerics and Shia civil and political societies.” 

“Bahrain also targets Shiite clerics with arbitrary arrest, prosecution, and denaturalization,” he added. Bahrain has also forcibly deported Shiite clerics and their families. This persecution shows no sign of abating.” 

The activist also shed light on discriminatory practices within Bahrain’s civil services, the security forces and defense sectors. 

Parweez called on “all states, including Bahrain, to uphold their responsibilities under the Durban Declaration to ensure the protection and non-discrimination of religious, racial and ethnic communities, and to hold ensure all violators are held accountable for their misconducts.” 

The Durban Declaration and Program of Action (DDPA) is a nonbinding document that proposes concrete measures to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.