Gulf kingdom of Bahrain cracks down on dissent as internal unrest sparked by Iran war

A man was detained in Bahrain last month as the island state came under Missile attack from Iran. He remained missing for several days, until his family was called to retrieve his body from the military hospital.

Relatives said Mohammed al-Moussawi, a Shia Muslim who was previously jailed, was saving money to start a business. His body was covered in bruises, including cuts and bruises on the soles of his feet.

His death has become a flashpoint on the front lines of the war in the Sunni-ruled, Shia-majority country, where critics say authorities have revived tactics used for repression. Arab Spring protests in 2011.

Bahrain, a monarchy that hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet,

has arrested dozens of people suspected of filming strikes and demonstrations, expressing support for Iran, and spying for it throughout the war.

“They want to ensure that no one challenges the state’s story and silence any voices that don’t tell the story (of the war) as they want it to be told,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadei of the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said that al-Moussawi was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran; his family denied the allegations and said that photographs of his wounds were “false and misleading”. Bahrain’s government said in a statement that the country was protecting its national security. It denied any sectarianism and said authorities had acted lawfully and that independent bodies investigate allegations of abuse.

Al-Moussawi served about 11 years of a 21-year prison sentence, including charges related to arson and a terrorist cell, before being released in 2024. a royal pardon.

A relative and a close family friend, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said al-Moussawi disappeared after attending prayers with two friends on March 19 and has not been seen since. Human rights groups have long accused Bahrain of enforced disappearances.

On March 27, his family received a call to collect his body. The relative, who witnessed it at the mortuary, said it appeared that al-Moussawi had been beaten with cables. He said he had electric shock burns on the backs of his knees and cigarette burns elsewhere on his body.

The AP separately reviewed images of al-Moussawi’s body, which showed marks described by a total of five witnesses who saw it in person. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The National Security Agency captured al-Mousawi, according to Bahrain’s Interior Ministry. As part of reforms following the 2011 protests, the domestic spy service was stripped of arrest powers on abuse charges. But he was reinstated in 2017 as Bahrain deepened a long-running campaign to suppress dissent.

“Photographs of injuries sustained by the deceased are inaccurate and misleading and have been deliberately circulated to mislead public opinion,” the Interior Ministry said, without elaborating.

The death certificate from the military hospital stated that he died of a heart attack. His family said the 32-year-old man had no previous problems.

Ahmed Banasar, a forensic expert at New York-based Physicians for Human Rights, said the wounds in the images were consistent with blunt force trauma. Wounds on the soles of his feet help rule out other causes such as a fight or fall.

“The findings are consistent with alleged torture,” he said.

Al-Mousawi was one of dozens of Bahraini Shiites caught up in the crackdown, which critics say has intensified since Israel and the US launched war against Iran on February 28.

Rights groups see the arrest and al-Moussawi’s death as a new phase in Bahrain’s long-running repression campaign that peaked in 2011 as a pro-democracy uprising swept the region. That year, the ruling Al Khalifa family crushed mass demonstrations with the help of troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Periodic unrest has continued since then, with the government portraying the mostly Shia protesters as Iranian proxies. Unlike other Sunni monarchies in the Gulf, Bahrain – like Iran – has a Shia majority.

“It really remains to be seen how far the government will go in its crackdown on people,” he said. Maryam Al-Khawaja, a Bahraini activist living abroad whose father is in jail in Bahrain. “What we’re seeing now is certainly much more heavy-handed than in the past few years.”

The government of Bahrain said its security measures were a “direct and proportionate response” to Iran’s attacks.

It said, “The individuals arrested include those who filmed military and strategic sites during the active attack on Bahraini territory, those who shared sensitive information, and those who publicly expressed support for the kingdom that recently launched attacks on Bahraini soil.”

It said, “Presenting arrests made on the basis of conduct as evidence of communal persecution and conflating the two is a framework we strongly and unequivocally reject.”

Since the start of the war, at least 41 people—including migrant workers—have been arrested for sharing images or expressing sympathy for what authorities describe as “Iranian aggression.” Some are charged with treason – a charge that carries a penalty of life imprisonment or death.

Bahrain has counted more than 600 Iranian drone and missile attacks, killing at least two people and damaging infrastructure, including a desalination plant, an oil refinery and an aluminium smelter. Iran has also repeatedly targeted the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters.

Some protesters mourned the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and celebrated the attacks on Bahrain, according to video seen by AP. They also portrayed scenes of bomb-throwing and car-burning.

The day after the war began, 21-year-old Hussein Fatil and a friend posted social media videos of themselves waving a poster of Iran’s supreme leader at a protest outside the US Embassy. A few minutes later, plainclothes officers escorted them to an unmarked car.

Naji Fatil, Hussain’s father, informed the AP that the police interrogated the men and later called them home from the police station.

Three days later, Hussain called his family again and said he had been charged with five crimes, including misusing social media and inciting hatred and sedition, his father said.

“The allegations are highly serious and the situation has been exaggerated,” he stated, adding that his son claimed the protests outside the embassy were peaceful. “Now he can face the harshest punishment possible. I just want my son to have a normal life and not get the death penalty.”