Human Rights in Bahrain: Next Steps
Hearing Notice
Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain, a major U.S. ally and host of the U.S. 5th Fleet.
The human rights situation in Bahrain has been a focus of U.S. and international attention since the spring of 2011, when the government, with the support of Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, violently repressed a major citizen uprising. After the fact, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa named the five-person Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) to investigate the government’s response to the unrest. The resulting BICI report provided 26 recommendations that became a point of reference for constructive change. But implementation of the recommendations has lagged, as evidenced by a June 2016 State Department report to Congress.
In recent months, the Bahraini government has again escalated its repression of human rights defenders and opposition political leaders. Activists have been banned from traveling to attend sessions of the UN Human Rights Council. A number of Shia citizens have been convicted and sentenced for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly through activities such as tweeting or participating in sit-ins. The largest opposition political group, al-Wefaq, has been dissolved. Well-known prisoner of conscience Nabeel Rajab, already imprisoned, has been newly charged with “undermining the prestige of the kingdom” a day after publishing an op-ed in the New York Times.
Witnesses will analyze these recent developments and their implications for Bahrain and the United States, and offer policy recommendations to Congress, in the context of the global effort to counter violent extremism.
This hearing will be open to members of Congress, congressional staff, the interested public, and the media. The hearing will be livestreamed via the Commission website. For any questions, please contact Kimberly Stanton (for Mr. McGovern) at 202-225-3599 or Kimberly.Stanton@mail.house.gov or Carson Middleton (for Mr. Pitts) at 202-225-2411 or Carson.Middleton@mail.house.gov.
Hosted by:
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James P. McGovern
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC
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Joseph R. Pitts
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC
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Opening Remarks
- Rep. James P. McGovern, Co-Chair, TLHRC
Written remarks
Witnesses
Panel I
- Brian Dooley, Director, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First
Written testimony - The Honorable Matar Ebrahim Matar, former Member of Bahrain's Parliament
Written testimony - Sarah Margon, Washington Director, Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Written testimony - Cole Bockenfeld, Deputy Director for Policy, Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
Written testimony
Submitted for the Record
- U.S. Department of State, Steps Taken by the Government of Bahrain to Implement the Recommendations in the 2011 Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission on Inquiry, June 21, 2016
- UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN rights experts urge Bahrain to end the persecution of Shias, Press Release, August 16, 2016
- The New York Times, Editorial, Punishing Dissent in Bahrain, September 7, 2016