UN blasts Bahrain’s anti-Shia policies

On Thursday, the UN body criticized the Persian Gulf kingdom after it expelled the representative of prominent Shia religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Heiner Bielefeldt said in a statement : “Targeting the most senior and influential Shia religious figure in Bahrain may amount to intimidating and thus discriminating against the entire Shia Muslim community in the country because of its religious beliefs.”

Bielefeldt added that the case of Sheikh Hussein al-Najati is a stark illustration of the broader mistreatment of Shia Muslims in Bahrain.

Bielefeldt stated: “I understand that Mr. Najati has consistently refrained from engaging into politics, and has maintained his position and activities strictly in the realm of his religion”, adding: “He is not known to have advocated violence or its use, or to have committed acts that would undermine national security or public order, nor has he been charged or sentenced for committing such acts.”

He also said the move appears to be a religiously-motivated discrimination and a gross violation of internationally-recognized human rights.