Maitham Al Bahrani Mosque in Mahooz bulldozed by security forces
The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights have sent a letter to His Holiness Pope Francis I urging him not to meet with the King of Bahrain on his planned visit in the wake of severe human rights abuses. The letter also asks His Holiness to condemn the violations against religious freedom in Bahrain and advocate for an end to the oppression.
The letter, sent on 12 May 2014, highlights the violations committed by the government of Bahrain against religious freedom including the destruction of religious and cultural property, the attacks against places of worship and religious events and the targeting of religious personnel. The attacks have recently escalated including the deportation of the prominent Shia religious scholar Shiekh Hussein Al-Najati and the dissolution of the Shia Islamic Scholars Council. The UN Special Rapporteur on Religion described the deportation as “an act of religiously motivated discrimination.”
See full text of the letter:
