Letter in Support of Religious Freedom in Bahrain

We, the undersigned organizations, would like to raise our collective concern regarding ongoing religious freedom violations in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in particular against the kingdom’s Shia Muslim population and surrounding important Shia religious dates and events, as well as political marginalization based on religion. We fear that these violations and this marginalization has the potential to lead to destabilizing issues, including further protests and possible unrest. In order to forestall this, we urge you to take action to end violations of religious freedom against Bahrain’s Shia community, including installing legislation protecting the right to participate in religious events, and engaging Shia communities in the political process. We call upon you to order the release of imprisoned Shia clerics as a way to build confidence and demonstrate your government’s seriousness to put these protections in place.