Bahrain cracks down on Shia community ahead of Ashura: Rights group

Bahraini authorities have intensified the crackdown on the country’s Shia community ahead of Ashura, carrying out raids on religious gatherings, arresting clerics and mourners, and threatening organizers of religious ceremonies, a rights group says.

The Bahrain Freedom Movement, a rights group based in the United Kingdom, reported on Wednesday that riot police raided a Hosseinieh in the village of Karbabad and several nearby homes earlier in the day, arresting a number of people, including the center’s supervisor.

The group said pressure on Shia religious institutions has increased in recent days across different parts of Bahrain, with Hosseinieh administrators, clerics, religious speakers and eulogists reportedly being summoned, interrogated and threatened by security authorities.

According to the report, security forces summoned several Hosseinieh officials on Saturday and warned them against participating in mourning ceremonies.

The warnings were also directed at clerics, speakers, and reciters, particularly in the village of Sanabis.

The organization further reported the arrest of Sheikh Hussein Najib, the prayer leader of Al-Khaif Mosque in al-Dair, as well as several other individuals in connection with Ashura gatherings and mourning processions.

According to the report, authorities have also barred a number of religious speakers from participating in mourning ceremonies.

Mourning ceremonies for Imam Hussein have formed a central part of Bahrain’s religious and cultural identity for centuries.

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Bahraini authorities, however, have repeatedly imposed restrictions on Ashura observances through arrests, limitations on religious activities, and intervention in Hosseinieh programs.

The latest measures form part of a broader campaign targeting Bahrain’s Shia community, which has included arrests, citizenship revocations, and restrictions on religious and political expression.

Ashura, observed on the 10th day of the lunar month of Muharram, is commemorated by millions of people around the world in mourning the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, his family, and his loyal companions.

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