21 May 2025 – The Country Coordinator for Bahrain at Amnesty International UK and Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) express grave concern over Bahrain’s continued repression of former political prisoners and human rights defenders, who now face renewed violations post-release, including restrictions on work, housing, travel, and free expression.
Following the 8 April 2024 royal pardon, Bahraini authorities pledged to uphold the full rights of released prisoners – yet testimonies reveal a wide gap between these promises and reality. A report published today by ADHRB documents the cases of Naji Fateel, Mohamed Abdulla AlSankis, Ali AlHajee, and Najah Yusuf, detailing the ongoing violations they face post-release.
- Human rights defender Naji Fateel, released under the 8 April 2024 royal pardon after 11 years of arbitrary detention, torture, and medical neglect, received no compensation or reintegration support. Instead, he was unlawfully dismissed from his job on 6 October 2024 under political pressure. He has since been unable to secure new employment due to the authorities’ refusal to issue a “good conduct” certificate, leaving him in debt. Fateel was also summoned twice in August and September 2024 over vague protest-related accusations and intimidated during questioning. Additionally, his housing allowance, suspended since his 2013 arrest, remains unpaid. On 17 February 2025, three UN Special Rapporteurs sent an allegation letter to the Bahraini government urging an end to these reprisals and the launch of transparent investigations.
- Similarly, former political prisoner Mohamed Abdulla AlSankis, also released under the 8 April 2024 royal pardon after 11 years of inhumane, arbitrary imprisonment, remains deprived of basic rights including the right to work. Dismissed from the Ministry of Public Works in 2011, he has neither been reinstated nor granted retirement. In March 2025, AlSankis staged a sit-in at the Ministry, which led to two summonses and referral to the Public Prosecution Office (PPO). Since 20 April 2025, he has continued his protest outside the Ministry of Labor, holding a loaf of bread to symbolize his struggle. He declares that while released from prison, he remains imprisoned by injustice, demanding treatment as a citizen, not a lifelong convict.
- Human rights defender Ali AlHajee, released on 2 June 2023 after 10 years of unjust detention, remains under surveillance and a travel ban. He was re-arrested on 14 November 2023 and again on 28 February 2025 for demanding civil rights and exposing prison abuses. Released again on 10 March 2025 under restrictive conditions—partial house arrest and mandatory PPO check-ins—he continues to face legal harassment. Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, expressed concern over his repeated arrests.
- Najah Yusuf, a former civil servant, is one of Bahrain’s most prominent female human rights defenders. Arrested in April 2017 for Facebook posts criticizing government policies and the use of Formula 1 to whitewash abuses, she was sentenced in 2018 to three years based on torture-induced confessions. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention deemed her imprisonment unlawful, calling for her immediate release and compensation. Although freed under a 2019 royal pardon, she received no redress, remains unemployed after being unjustly dismissed, and is under constant surveillance. Her son Kameel was arrested at age 17 in retaliation for her activism and remains under alternative sentencing, forced to wear an ankle monitor. Yusuf herself was re-arrested in March 2023 for protesting sportswashing and was summoned four times between January and April 2025.
The denial of work, housing, and freedom of movement, coupled with unlawful security restrictions, constitutes a clear violation of fundamental rights guaranteed by Bahrain’s Constitution and international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The repeated use of such tools of intimidation also fosters a broader climate of fear, deterring others from peaceful advocacy.
We are deeply concerned by the ongoing persecution of these and other human rights defenders. Rather than gaining freedom, they are effectively transferred from a small prison to a wider one. We urge the Bahraini government to immediately ensure the full rights of released persons, including by:
- Lifting all administrative and security restrictions imposed upon release.
- Issuing certificates of good conduct without delay or unreasonable conditions.
- Reinstating arbitrarily dismissed individuals or providing fair compensation.
- Granting long-denied housing allowances.
- Investigating all past violations and ensuring accountability for perpetrators.
- Ending unlawful summonses and arrests, and guaranteeing the rights to free expression and peaceful assembly.
Husain Abdulla, Executive Director of ADHRB: “This isn’t reintegration – it’s retaliation, just dressed up to look nice for the international community. The reality is that stripping activists of their rights post-release isn’t reform. It’s just punishment by another name.”
Haleema Naz, the Country Coordinator for Bahrain at Amnesty International UK: “Bahrain’s treatment of released activists is not reintegration, it’s slow, calculated punishment. Stripping people of their basic rights after years of torture and imprisonment is not reform, it’s cowardice disguised as control. I will not stay silent while repression is repackaged as mercy”.
Signatures:
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
Country Coordinator for Bahrain at Amnesty International UK
