On 20 September 2006, the Kingdom of Bahrain acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). By so doing, they passed it into national law. Alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the ICCPR is one of the single most important international treaties protecting human rights, making up the International Bill of Rights.

The covenant protects the rights of women, children, minorities, and detainees, free expression, opinion, religion, assembly and association, prohibits torture, unfair trial, slavery, war propaganda and hate. Above all, it recognises the equality of all under the law and the right to self-determination.

It has now been nine years since Bahrain acceded to the ICCPR. In that time, respect for human rights has only decreased. The rights issues are numerous: limited political rights, systematic use of torture, unequal status of men and women, religious freedoms are curtailed — and the list goes on.

Know Your Rights is an infographic series which aims to introduce some of the rights violated in Bahrain today, and which can be resolved by adhering to the ICCPR. We have selected eight rights issues, which we consider to be among the most pressing, to discuss over the coming months.

View the Infographics

09 September 2015: #1 Prohibition of Torture

23 September 2015: #2 Right to Fair Trial

 7 October 2015: #3 Right to Free Speech & Expression

11 November 2015: #4 Right to Free Assembly