Bahrain is a Shia majority country with a Sunni ruling family. Since 2012, the government has revoked citizenship from at least 741 people. While the government cites terrorism, and this May revoked the citizenship of 115 in a mass terrorism trial, activists highlight the practice as a way to silence and remove critics of the government. Both the Bahrain government and the U.S. have accused Iran of financing Shiite terrorist groups in the country, but critics have said that the government has lumped in other Shia activists with these terror groups. One expert highlights the legal problem that “if that person has indeed been involved in crimes, then the victims are entitled to justice. However, if the country that had a jurisdictional link with that person disconnects to that link, then you remove an important possibility to bring that person to justice.” Another affirms this issue and suggests another problem, saying that “even if the former state is not endangered, that does not mean the security of other states is not jeopardized…it is working in terms of intimidating people from criticizing the government. It is certainly not working in terms of preventing any terrorism.”
Source: Activists: Bahrain Continues to Revoke Citizenship of Dissidents
