Rights group: Bahrain has intensified systematic arrest, abuse of minors

A human rights group has condemned Bahrain for systematically mistreating and intimidating minors detained over protests or their political views.

The Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) revealed that Bahraini authorities have intensified their arbitrary detention and abuse of minors in connection with peaceful protests and political expressions.

The alarming trend persists despite a royal pardon issued in April 2024 granting amnesty to 1,584 prisoners—including 40 minors previously detained for charges related to freedom of speech and expression, it said.

Since the amnesty, the ADHRB said, more minors have faced arrest, with over 20 detained between August and December 2024 for participating in protests. Many of the children were coerced into confessing through psychological and physical torture.

The ADHRB's findings detail severe mistreatment of detained minors, including beatings, threats of sexual violence, and prolonged detention without access to legal representation or family contact.

The report sheds light on the systematic violations occurring at Bahrain’s Dry Dock Detention Center, highlighting issues such as malnutrition, religious suppression, and medical neglect. Conditions have become so dire that some minors have resorted to hunger strike as a form of protest against their treatment.

ADHRB Executive Director Husain Abdulla condemned the ongoing crackdown, asserting that the amnesties have merely created space in the nation’s prisons for a new wave of children facing similar abuses.

His organization has documented the detention of 11 minors who were arrested without warrants and held for extended periods without fair trials. These minors were subjected to coercive confessions under duress and denied legal representation and family contact.

Inside the Juvenile Detention Center, violations continue, marked by ill-treatment, lack of medical care, and restrictions on education and family visits. Detainees report malnutrition and inadequate bedding, while families have to cover the cost of phone calls to their detained children.

Prisoners subjected to ‘psychological torture’ in Bahrain: Report

Inmates kept at Bahrain’s Jau prison are subjected to “psychological torture”.

Bahraini authorities have escalated their suppression of civil liberties following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, as protests against Israeli genocide in Gaza gain momentum.

As the fourth Arab nation to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords in September 2020, Bahrain appears to prioritize its ties with the occupying regime over the plight of the oppressed.

The ADHRB has identified at least 32 minors subjected to violence among 344 citizens arrested for expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and the Lebanese between October 2023 and November 2024.

The protests were met with severe repression, including the use of excessive force against minors, highlighted by the shooting of 16-year-old Husain Habib Baddaw in the head in July 2024.

Currently, approximately 38 minors remain detained at the Dry Dock Detention Center, with 14 of them arrested without warrants.

The ADHRB urged the international community to hold Bahrain accountable and to “enhance monitoring mechanisms on human rights conditions in the country.”

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