Bahrain: CAT flags systemic gaps in safeguards against torture, detention abuses, and protection from refoulement.
During the 83rd Session of the Committee Against Torture (CAT), on Tuesday, 18 November, and Wednesday, 19 November 2025, the CAT reviewed the 4th periodic report of the Kingdom of Bahrain under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The country rapporteurs were Mr. Abderrazak Rouwane and Mr. Liu Huawen.
The Bahraini delegation was led by H.E.Mr. Nawaf Mouada, Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Waqf of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Main issues discussed
The CAT raised serious concerns about detention conditions in Bahrain, focusing on Jau prison. Experts pointed to overcrowding, poor hygiene, lack of adequate medical care, restricted family visits, and reports of acts of torture and prolonged solitary confinement. They also addressed the continued intimidation, harassment, excessive use of force and arbitrary arrest and detention of human rights defenders, members of civil society, journalists, political opponents and other government critics. They also inquired specifically about the situation of some human rights defenders in arbitrary detention, including Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, and particularly with regard to their access to medical care.
The Committee examined the credibility and independence of Bahrain’s monitoring bodies, noting that current mechanisms do not meet the standards required to prevent torture or provide effective oversight. Members questioned the absence of respect of fundamental legal safeguards, particularly in terrorism-related cases, including the absence of prompt access to lawyers, delays in notifying families, gaps in medical examinations, and the use of unrecorded interrogation spaces. They urged Bahrain to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention and to allow UN Special Procedures unrestricted access to all detention facilities.
Experts also noted the absence of an asylum framework, the lack of safeguards against refoulement, and the vulnerability of individuals facing removal without any meaningful assessment of protection needs. The Committee asked whether people at risk of torture had any legal avenue to challenge deportation decisions and called on Bahrain to bring its practices in line with its non-refoulement obligations.
The CAT’s recommendations are available here.
Follow-up Recommendations
The State party should provide information by the 28 November 2026 on the implementation of recommendations regarding::
- Incommunicado detention and unofficial facilities (para. 22);
- Conditions of detention (para. 24 (a));
- Monitoring of all places of deprivation of liberty (para. 26); and
- Deaths in custody (para. 28 (a)).
Watch here the video recordings (part 1 and part 2) of the dialogue with the CAT.
Read our alternative report to the CAT with BIRD, Reprieve, IRCT, and WCADP (in English), and our alternative report with 10 other organisations (in English).