HRW Urges Bahrain to Scrap Law on Revoking Citizenship
Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged Bahrain to repeal laws allowing citizenships of dissidents to be revoked after a court stripped another nine Shiites of their nationalities.
"Bahrain should repeal laws that will allow authorities to strip Bahrainis of their nationality on grounds so vague as to be arbitrary," HRW said.
The New York-based right group's statement comes after a court on August 6 stripped nine Bahraini men of their citizenships after they were found guilty of "forming a terrorist organization aimed at smuggling weapons to Bahrain and helping detainees to escape."
The convicts were also jailed for terms ranging from five to 15 years.
The ruling marked the first time that a 2013 law which revokes the nationality of those convicted of terrorism was enforced.
HRW also said that 10 other Shiites, whose citizenships were revoked two years ago, are now facing jail terms or deportation from Bahrain.
The 10 are among 31 Shiites whose citizenships were revoked in November 2012 for having "undermined state security" in the kingdom, shaken by Arab Spring-inspired protests since February 2011. The 31 were never brought to court.
According to HRW, 21 of the group have left the country.
The watchdog urged the Sunni-ruled kingdom to "immediately restore the citizenship rights of the 10 people who face deportation and of the 21 others whose citizenship rights were removed without due process."
"Bahraini authorities have either obstructed the right of appeal or refused to justify the decision to revoke the citizenship of the nine men and one woman who remain in the country," said HRW.
"They have no residence permits and face charges of violating asylum and immigration laws," it said, adding that the authorities have begun summonsing them over such violations.
"The Bahraini government seems hell bent on finding ever new and more pernicious ways to penalize its critics and suppress calls for change,” said HRW MENA director Sarah Leah Whitson.
"No one should have their citizenship snatched away for peaceful criticism of their government," she added.
Hundreds of Shiites have been arrested and many have faced trials over their role in anti-regime protests that erupted in February 2011 demanding democratic reforms in the absolute monarchy.
Security forces crushed the protests in mid-March 2011, but smaller demonstrations frequently take place in Shiite villages, triggering clashes with police.
Bahrain is a strategic archipelago just across the Gulf from Iran.
Washington is a long-standing ally of the ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty, and Bahrain is home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Source: Agence France Presse
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