The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) issued its annual report, entitled " Chased without Protection: Silence, or Prison, Death, and Deportation." It is a 535-page report on human rights violations in Bahrain in 2017, in which 2,165 citizens were reported to have been abused.

The main chapters of the report are as follows: 2017 statistics, part 1 (sequence of events in 2017 - presentation of the most important human rights events), part two (cases subjected to persecution), part three: grave violations and extrajudicial executions, hate speech, conclusion and recommendations.

In its report, the BFHR pointed to the increase in the number of victims of violations in the first months of 2017, up until May, during which the security authorities launched a wide campaign against political activity and protests in Bahrain. The campaign included the security operation in Duraz area, west of Manama, which aimed at ending the sit-in held in front of the home of the leader of the Shiite community in Bahrain, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim. The number of victims subjected to violations in May reached 481.

The report concluded that in 2017, 1694 cases of arbitrary arrest were recorded, 644 of which were arrested as a result of raids; 1049 illegal raids and 107 injuries resulting from excessive use of force by the security forces were monitored; 3706 peaceful protests were staged in different regions of Bahrain, 1414 of which were repressed; and other violations were committed such as enforced disappearance, torture and arbitrary sentences issued in cases related to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In the hate speech chapter, the BFHR monitored 6600 media materials and messages that incite or help to incite hatred against human rights defenders, political activists, civil society, political and religious associations, international human rights organizations, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Bahraini citizens who have anti-government views. 1415 of these materials were distributed among the four official newspapers and 4970 were posted on social media sites by official and media figures such as Head of Public Security Tariq Al-Hassan, Assistant Undersecretary for Information and Follow-up at the Prime Minister\'s Court, Ibrahim Al-Dosari, Ministry of Information Affairs’ adviser, Sawsan Al-Shaer, former MP Mohammed Khalid, and journalists Faisal Al-Sheikh, Fareed Hassan, Mona Mutawa and Saeed Al-Hamad.

The hate-inciting media materials published in official media, whether in the official press or in government-sponsored newspapers, have been distributed as follows:

- 382 articles in the Bahraini Al-Ayam newspaper.

- 628 articles in the Bahraini Akhbar Al-Khaleej newspaper.

- 220 articles in the Bahraini Al-Bilad newspaper.

- 666 articles in the Bahraini Al-Watan newspaper.

In addition, it has been noticed that some media materials that help to incite hatred or contain false information against the opposition are published in almost the same form in most of the Gulf newspapers. 70 media materials were monitored in the Gulf and Arab newspapers, especially during the campaign launched against the Bahraini opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman between August and December of 2017.