News / Persian Gulf

UN rights chief worried over Al Khalifah crackdown in Bahrain

Wednesday, 08 March 2017 9:20 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 09 March 2017 1:18 AM ]

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein delivers a speech in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 13, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has voiced deep concerns over the Manama regime’s increasing crackdown on dissent.

During his annual report to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein called on the Al Khalifah regime to allow UN representatives swift access to the country.

While stressing that repression will only add to the people’s grievances, Zeid urged the government in Bahrain to take solid confidence-building measures.

“The government has imposed increasing restrictions on civil society and politics since June 2016, including intimidation, arrests and interrogations, travel bans and closure orders," he said.

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Bahrain has been the scene of almost daily demonstrations against the Al Khalifah rule since mid-February 2011, when a popular uprising began in the tiny Persian Gulf country.

A Bahraini protester throws a glass bottle containing paint at an armored personnel carrier during anti-regime clashes in the village of Sitra, south of Manama, on February 14, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

Protesters are demanding that the ruling dynasty relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.

The regime in Manama has spared no effort to clamp down on dissidents and rights activists. Scores of people have lost their lives and thousands of others have ended behind bars during the suppression campaign.

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