Naji Fateel

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Detained: August 18, 2026.

Charges: Outstanding financial liability arising from the 2015 Jau Prison case. 

Sentence: No new sentence reported. 

Biography: Naji Fateel is a board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), a blogger and prolific tweeter, reporting on human rights violations. During marches and protests in villages he gave speeches about human rights and encouraged people to document and monitor violations. On May 2, 2013, Naji Fateel was arrested at dawn at his home in the village of Bani Jamra, northwestern Bahrain, without a warrant. The house, surrounded by riot police, was raided and searched by 12 plain clothes police officers who took away his daughter's laptop, his camera and his phones. No reason for his arrest was given and he was tortured and suffered ill-treatment before he was transferred to Dry Dock Prison on May 5, 2013.

On July 11, 2013, Naji Fateel appeared before the Fourth Criminal Court and was charged under Article 6 of the Terrorism Act. He received a sentence of 15 years' imprisonment. Photographic evidence of torture inflicted against Naji Fateel during his detention has emerged. On May 29, 2014, the Appeals Court of Bahrain upheld the 15-year sentence. Front Line Defenders sent an observer to Naji Fateel's first instance trial, which did not meet due process guarantees.

On March 10, 2015, security forces attacked prisoners in Jaw Prison using rubber bullets, teargas and shotgun pellets, following a disruption caused by prisoners protesting restrictions on family visits. Naji Fateel was not involved in the protest but was injured during the attack, suffering a broken leg, and was subsequently sentenced to an additional 10 years for assault and damage to prison property.

On August 18, 2026, plainclothes police officers re-arrested Fateel during a pre-dawn raid on his home in East Riffa. The officers reportedly did not present an arrest warrant or explain the reason for his arrest before taking him into custody. Fateel was later informed that his arrest concerned an outstanding financial payment related to the 2015 Jau Prison case. On August 20, 2026, Fateel was transferred from East Riffa Police Station to Jau Prison, where he remains detained. 

The financial liability stems from the 2015 Jau Prison case, in which Fateel and 56 other defendants were convicted in 2016 and collectively ordered to pay approximately $1.35 million in compensation for alleged damages. Fateel’s individual liability was calculated at approximately $23,700. Prior to his arrest, Fateel had reportedly sought to resolve the outstanding payment and contacted officials on August 16, 2026, to request documentation of the amount he owed so that he could seek a settlement. 

Updates:

• In a statement released by the NGO Salam For Democracy and Human Rights, Naji Fateel details the torture and lack of medical care he has experienced in prison. The complaints he has lodged have been ignored (November 15, 2018, Salam For Democracy and Human Rights).
• Naji Fateel reportedly began a hunger strike on November 12, 2018. Fateel was supposed to call his family on November 19, 2018 but they never received the call and there is no update about his current condition (November 28, 2018, Gulf Center for Human Rights).
• On the 8th anniversary of the Pearl Uprising, Rep. James P. McGovern inserted remarks into the Congressional Record calling on the government of Bahrain to release Naji Fateel and other prisoners of conscience and reform policies that risk fostering extremism (February 14, 2019, Congressional Record).
• The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) reported that Fateel has entered the second month of a hunger strike to protest the denial of medical care, physical and psychological abuses and restrictions on religious freedoms and family visits (October 2, 2019, ABNA).
• Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy reported that Bahraini authorities are failing to provide adequate medical care to high-profile prisoners, including Naji Fateel (October 8, 2019, HRW).
• The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor sent a communication to the government of Bahrain expressing concern for the allegations of torture, and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment faced by Naji Ali Fateel, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace. (July 8, 2021, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders)
• On December 15, 2022, the European Parliament adopted the "Resolution on the case of human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in Bahrain," which called for the immediate, unconditional release of Mr. Al-Khawaja, as well as Naji Fateel, Sheikh Ali Salman, Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, and all Bahraini prisoners of conscience (December 15, 2022, European Parliament).
• Ahead of the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly held in Bahrain in March 2023, 22 human rights organizations submitted a joint statement to the parliamentarians, which called for parliamentarians to raise human rights issues in the country with officials during their visit and to push for the release of Naji Fateel, Sheikh Ali Salman, Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and other prisoners of conscience (March 6, 2023, Human Rights Watch).
• In the opinions adopted in 95th session of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) held in November 2022 and published on March 15, 2023, the WGAD determined Naji Fateel to be arbitrarily detained and called for him to be immediately and unconditionally released (March 15, 2023, OHCHR).
• On September 15, 2023, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor expressed concern for the well-being of Naji Fateel, Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, and Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and called for them to immediately be granted access to adequate medical treatment (September 15, 2023, OHCHR).
• On August 18, Bahraini authorities re-arrested human rights defender Naji Fateel, who had been pardoned and released in April 2024 after more than a decade in prison. According to Human Rights First, police raided Fateel’s home before dawn and detained him in connection with outstanding financial penalty stemming from his 2016 conviction related to unrest at Jau Prison. Human Rights First called for Fateel’s immediate release, along with other human rights activist imprisoned in Bahrain for their peaceful criticism of the government. (August 20, Human Rights First).
• On September 7, 2026, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights called for the immediate release of Naji Fateel and an end to the re-imprisonment of pardoned prisoners over financial penalties.

Prior DFP Case: 2013-2024 Imprisonment

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Detained: May 2, 2013

Released: April 8, 2024

Charges: The establishment of a group for the purpose of disabling the constitution.

Sentence: A combined 25 years in prison.

Biography: Naji Fateel is a board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), a blogger and human rights defender who reported on human rights violations in Bahrain. He was arrested without a warrant at his home in Bani Jamra on May 2, 2013. On July 11, 2013, Fateel was charged under Article 6 of the Terrorism Act and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Following events at Jaw Prison in March 2015, Fateel was subsequently sentenced to an additional 10 years for assault and damage to prison property.

Naji Fateel was pardoned and RELEASED on April 8, 2024.