Bahrain’s Interior Ministry announced on Monday the revocation of citizenship from 69 individuals, along with their family members by dependency, citing accusations of expressing sympathy for or glorifying what it described as “hostile Iranian acts”, as well as alleged contact with foreign entities.
Authorities stated that all those affected are of non-Bahraini origin, adding that the relevant bodies would immediately begin implementing the necessary legal measures against them. The Bahrain News Agency reported that officials will continue reviewing citizenship files to determine those deemed eligible for Bahraini nationality.
The move comes alongside a recommendation by the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee in Bahrain’s parliament to approve Decree-Law No. 13 of 2024, which amends Article 7 of the Judicial Authority Law. The proposed amendment classifies citizenship-related matters as “sovereign acts”, placing them beyond the jurisdiction of the judiciary.
If passed, the measure, scheduled for discussion on Tuesday, would significantly expand the executive branch’s authority over citizenship decisions, effectively shielding such rulings from judicial oversight.
The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society strongly condemned the decision, describing it as “unjust, inhumane, and issued without charges,” adding that it constitutes “collective punishment.”
The group stated that authorities “have stripped citizenship from children, infants, and women under the pretext of dependency,” warning that this effectively erases entire families from the civil registry and amounts to “moral and civil execution.”
Al-Wefaq denounced the measure as “arbitrary”, stressing that such actions are “unconstitutional, illegal, and inhumane,” and argued that the decision “represents the execution of political and societal pluralism” while exacerbating human rights violations in the country.
The society further linked the move to prolonged political crisis in Bahrain, asserting that these decisions “cannot be separated from the context of the political crisis the country has experienced for a decade and a half.”
It also criticized authorities for “so-called sympathy with and glorification of hostile Iranian acts” without conducting investigations or providing legal justification.
Al-Wefaq emphasized that “patriotism and loyalty to the nation do not mean agreeing with the authority’s mistakes or refraining from advising it,” adding that reform-minded citizens see it as their duty to oppose policies that harm the country.
The group called for “halting the authority’s transgression on citizens’ rights under the pretext of ‘treason,’” urging authorities to reverse an “inhumane crime”.
It warned that continued implementation of such measures could “lead to the collapse of the social contract and subject civil peace to a severe shock,” stressing that Bahrain “needs a democratic political system based on respect for freedoms, political pluralism, and the foundations of justice and reform.”
These developments unfold as international reports point to an escalating crackdown on opposition figures in Bahrain, coinciding with renewed internal unrest following the onset of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.
Source: Al-Ahed English News
