Bahrain revokes 31 opposition activists’ citizenship

Bahrain’s government has revoked the citizenship of 31 opposition activists for “undermining state security”.
An interior ministry statement published by state media said Article 10 of the Citizenship Law permitted the “re-evaluation of nationality”. Those affected include Jawad and Jalal Fairuz, former MPs for the leading Shia movement, al-Wifaq, and Ali Mushaimaa, son of al-Haq’s imprisoned leader.
Last week, the government banned all public gatherings and rallies. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Al Khalifah said “repeated abuse” of the rights to freedom of speech and expression could no longer be accepted.
However, the UN said the restrictions “could aggravate the situation in the country” and urged the government “to lift them without delay”. There has been widespread unrest in Bahrain since demonstrators took to the streets of Manama in February 2011, demanding more democracy and an end to what they said was discrimination against the majority Shia Muslim community by the Sunni royal family.
At least 60 people, including several police officers, have been killed, and thousands injured and jailed, since the uprising began in February 2011. The opposition puts the death toll at 80, a figure the authorities dispute.
Matar Matar, a former MP and leading member of al-Wifaq said that many of the activists whose citizenship was revoked on Wednesday had been acquitted by a military court last year after being charged with harming state security.
The list also includes Said al-Shihabi, head of the Bahrain Freedom Movement, and three Shia clerics – Hussein Mirza, Khaled Mansour Sanad and Alawi Sharaf. Others named were currently living abroad, opposition sources said.
The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) expressed their “grave concern”, saying in a joint statement that the authorities had not provided any evidence.
“It is apparent that the action taken by the Bahraini authorities to revoke the citizenships of 31 individuals is intended to punish them for expressing peaceful dissent and thereby intimidate others from exercising their right to freedom of expression,” the statement added.
The interior ministry statement said it would implement the decision “in conformity with the kingdom’s commitments under international law” and that those affected would have the right of appeal.
In a separate development on Tuesday, the authorities announced that four suspects had been arrested in connection with bombings in the capital, Manama, the previous day which killed two foreign workers and seriously injured another.