In a statement published on Sunday, the body expressed “deep concern” and denounced the measure in the strongest terms, saying the action was unacceptable “in any civilized legal system.”
According to the statement, the people stripped of citizenship include clerics, eulogists, social activists, women, men, “and even children and infants,” who were deprived of their nationality “without any judicial procedures, without legal investigations, outside the jurisdiction of the judiciary, and solely based on the order of the king of Bahrain.”
The statement said the right to nationality is among the most fundamental human rights under international law, citing Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.”
The Bahraini Interior Ministry said in a statement late last month that it had revoked the citizenship of 69 individuals and their families for “expressing support for Iran (retaliatory) attacks” against US and Israeli military assets across West Asia amid the war of aggression against the Islamic Republic.
The ministry said that the individuals also published posts on social media platforms “glorifying and sympathizing with” regional resistance movements, according to Press TV.
The statement further claimed that those stripped of citizenship “undermined the national security by publication of contents online, which caused instability and jeopardized public order.”
Iran’s High Council for Human Rights said the inclusion of infants in the decision not only violated human rights standards but also constituted “forced denationalization” and “collective punishment,” practices that have been strongly prohibited by UN monitoring bodies.
The statement further denounced Bahrain of using repeated allegations of “support for Iran” or “espionage for foreign entities” as a pretext to suppress dissent and systematically violate civil rights.
“Such a repressive approach is reminiscent of inhumane conduct in totalitarian systems and completely undermines the credibility of any claim to the rule of law in Bahrain,” it said.
The body also argued that the move violated the principles of non-discrimination and proportionality in punishment, stressing that depriving children and infants of citizenship bore no relation to the political accusations directed at their parents.
MNA
