On February 14, 2025, marking the anniversary of Bahrain’s “Day of Rage,” HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement released a new report titled “Bahrain’s Failure to Uphold UPR Commitments: A Deepening Crisis of Compliance.” The report provides a critical analysis of Bahrain’s ongoing failure to implement the recommendations it committed to under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), exposing a widening gap between official pledges and the reality of human rights on the ground.
Since Bahrain’s first UPR cycle in 2008, the government has repeatedly asserted that it has taken substantial steps toward reform and compliance with international human rights obligations. However, HuMENA’s findings reveal a starkly different picture. The Bahraini authorities continue to impose severe restrictions on civic space, suppressing freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. Laws that criminalize dissent remain firmly in place, and political repression persists through arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and the revocation of citizenship of activists and journalists. Judicial independence remains a major concern, with courts operating as tools of political control rather than institutions of justice. The continued use of military tribunals to prosecute civilians is yet another sign of the country’s deepening authoritarianism.
Despite international scrutiny, Bahrain has systematically failed to hold officials accountable for widespread human rights violations, including cases of torture and extrajudicial detention. The government has instead engaged in superficial engagement with the UPR process, using its commitments as a diplomatic shield while continuing to violate fundamental rights. Bahrain’s selective adoption of UPR recommendations appears to be a strategic move to maintain its international standing while maintaining repressive policies domestically. Legislative reforms have been largely performative, introduced as a means of appeasing international bodies rather than bringing about genuine change.
HuMENA’s report highlights that Bahrain’s approach to human rights reform is primarily a public relations effort rather than a meaningful commitment to change. The government has relied on diplomatic maneuvering, leveraging its international alliances, and offering carefully crafted narratives of progress, all while continuing to silence opposition voices. This pattern of superficial engagement underscores the urgent need for renewed international pressure to ensure Bahrain is held accountable for its commitments under the UPR framework.
The report urges Bahraini authorities to take immediate and concrete steps to align their policies with international human rights standards. Among the key recommendations, HuMENA calls for an end to the persecution of human rights defenders and political activists, the restoration of judicial independence, and the full implementation of outstanding UPR recommendations. Ensuring accountability for human rights abuses, including torture and arbitrary detention, is essential to reversing Bahrain’s current trajectory of repression.
HuMENA also calls on the international community to play a more active role in demanding genuine reform from Bahrain. Diplomatic engagement must go beyond rhetoric, with clear expectations for measurable progress in protecting fundamental freedoms. Without sustained international pressure, Bahrain’s cycle of repression and empty commitments is likely to continue, further eroding the credibility of the UPR mechanism itself.
