Bahrain accused of ongoing detention and abuse of minors

Bahraini authorities continue to arbitrarily detain, torture and deny rights to children in connection with protests and political expression, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) reported. Despite a royal pardon in April 2024 that freed nearly 40 minors, arrests have resumed, with dozens of children facing fabricated charges and harsh detention conditions.

“No child or adult who is participating in peaceful protest should be arrested, tortured, and abused,” said Niku Jafarnia, Bahrain and Yemen researcher at HRW.

HRW and ADHRB documented multiple cases where detained children were subjected to beatings, threats of rape and prolonged detention without access to legal representation or family contact. A former detainee, arrested at 15, recalled:

During the interrogation, [the authorities] were hitting me, took my clothes off, and threatened me with rape.

Between August and December 2024, over 20 minors were arrested for participating in protests. Many were forced into confessions through psychological and physical torture, deprived of medical care, and denied education.

Remembering the Bahraini Uprising

ADHRB’s report details systematic violations at Bahrain’s Dry Dock Detention Center, including malnutrition, religious suppression and medical neglect. Some minors launched hunger strikes to protest their conditions.

Bahrain’s Restorative Justice Law for Children, which sets the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 15, is being misused to institutionalise children arbitrarily. ADHRB’s Executive Director Husain Abdulla condemned the continued crackdown: “The amnesties seem to have only made space enough in Bahrain’s prisons for a new batch of children.”

ADHRB called on the international community to take responsibility in urging Bahrain to fulfil its “international obligations and enhance monitoring mechanisms on human rights conditions in the country.”