Reporters Without Borders described the official royalspeech as brazen lying

BFHR: A newspaper related to the Royal Court publishes hatespeech and accuses prominent Shiite clerics of infidelity

The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) said in astatement that the Bahraini Al Ayam newspaper, which is related to the RoyalCourt, continues to publish news that incites hatred due to the lack ofaccountability and the prevalence of the culture of impunity. The newspaperpublished an article by Ishaq Yacoub Al-Sheikh entitled: "The Four Takfiris(disbelievers) of Women’s Rights in Bahrain" in the issue 10077 publishedon Thursday, November 10, 2016. The writer accused prominent Shiite clerics inBahrain – who are known for spreading the principles of religious tolerance anddialogue, and who seek to strengthen social peace and the rights of citizenship– of infidelity.

The BFHR pointed out that "in 2015, 41% of the totalhate material found in pro-government Bahraini newspapers and magazines weredetected in the Bahraini Al-Ayam newspaper. There were over 900 out of 2337 materialswhich incite hatred." The BFHR explained that Reporters Without Bordershad described the official speech as "brazen lying", after adding theking of Bahrain to its blacklist under "Predators of Press Freedom". Freedomof press is witnessing significant deterioration in the country while theauthorities are employing the official media to broadcast hate material.

The BFHR stressed that incitement to hatred is constantly growing,which encouraged the official lawlessness of sectarian discrimination andpersecution in the country against the indigenous Shiite Muslim population. Thisleads to disturbing the atmosphere of co-existence in society, violating theprinciples of tolerance, and undermining trust between the components of the communityas a result of political employment of hate speech by the Bahraini authorities.

The BFHR added that "The report of the BahrainIndependent Commission of Inquiry, the report of the High Commissioner forHuman Rights technical team that visited Bahrain in December 2011, and thereport of three United Nations Rapporteurs issued in March 2016 confirmed thathate speech is growing and becoming an institutional situation. The Bahraini authoritiesviolated the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination, the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intoleranceand of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, the Rabat Plan of Action, theCamden Principles, and the rest of the agreements in the International Bill ofHuman Rights."

Bahrain Forum for Human Rights

November 11, 2016