AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Security in Bahrain is no longer a simple file administered by the government; the security apparatus itself has become a power within the state that acts like a separate government.
This is the essence of a crisis described by the testimonies of its citizens.
Bahrain has experienced successive security and political crises over past decades, which security agencies have managed. The intensity of these crises escalated in the second half of 1994, when a popular movement formed for the return of parliamentary life, the release of prisoners, and permission for the return of exiles.
In that period, a popular petition with the signatures of about 25,000 citizens was published, demanding the return of an elected national assembly and adherence to the constitution. The authorities at the time did not respond to these demands, and a wave of arrests began that included a number of activists and religious and political figures.
Since then, crises continued year after year; from successive political and security stages that followed the government's retreat from the provisions of the "reform project," to the February 14, 2011 revolution and the bloody events and widespread arrests that included thousands of citizens.
At that time, Bahrain entered a new phase of political and security tension. As developments escalated, five opposition political societies tried to pull the country out of falling into a more dangerous crisis.
In October of that same year, they published a political document titled the "Manama Document," which was presented as a path to freedom and a political exit for power.
This document had five main demands:
First: A government chosen by the people, not a government appointed during a crisis and without the people's vote. (Ministers must also be accountable in parliament.)
Second: A fair electoral system based on equitable electoral districts and the principle of "one vote for each citizen."
Third: Concentration of legislative power in a fully elected parliament with full legislative and oversight powers.
Fourth: An independent and trustworthy judiciary.
Fifth: Security for all, with the participation of all segments of society in forming security agencies
But the fifth clause was always a more urgent concern; because the government used its security agencies not to protect citizens, but to protect power, and things reached a point where a citizen was pursued because of his religious affiliation and put on trial because of his belief.
Today, Bahrain is in a situation where security concerns overshadow everything; to the extent that a citizen is put on trial for his opinion and belief, the arrest of scholars continues, and followers of the Ja'fari religion are tried.
In this context, we sought the opinions of some citizens about security turning from a source of calm into a source of fear.
"Since the martyrdom of Sayed Hassan Nasrallah in the last quarter of 2024, we have been living under the pressure of the power's laws; laws that harm Shiism. There is no longer any trustworthy security apparatus that protects the citizen; they have all become a source of concern for everyone."
"We had never seen such a police atmosphere, except after the announcement of the martyrdom of Sayed Nasrallah at the hands of the usurping regime. Repeated summons to security centers, forcing us to sign a written commitment not to install the image of any religious scholar, not to raise slogans, and not to hold mourning ceremonies for any scholar—whether in Bahrain or outside it. We are worried about arrest at every moment."
"In a country that presents itself as a land of security, there is no longer any security for a Shia citizen. We have lived under constant security pressure for two full years. Security agencies did not spare the elders, let alone the younger ones. Women are also targeted. We were not safe from arrest, torture, and sexual harassment; only because we are Shia and believe in our beliefs."
"Neither security, nor calm. All official state institutions have become places for testing and frightening citizens."
Many citizens have confirmed this; that the country's land borders and airports have become interrogation offices.
Here the main question arises: To what extent has security in Bahrain turned from a source of calm for the citizen into a source of concern? When a citizen fears his own security agencies more than he trusts them, and when religion and belief become grounds for trial and arrest, it can be said that the duty of security has deviated from its path. Security is no longer for everyone; it has become a tool for managing political crisis.
This feeling in recent months is rooted in the continued trial of great Shia scholars, seminary professors, and religious missionaries; trials that are conducted because of their religious activity, while this activity is the main part of their duty and belief.
The continuation of these trials is a deliberate targeting of the religious existence of Shias, not merely the prosecution of a few individuals for separate actions. This path makes clear to everyone that the approach goes beyond strictness and prosecution and leads to an attempt to completely uproot this community and gradually eliminate its religious and social presence, institutions, and symbols.
Bahrain has, over decades, turned into a continuous series of political and security crises; instead of the root of the dispute being resolved through dialogue, responding to popular demands, and building a state of institutions and law—the very thing opposition leaders have always demanded.
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