Since the 2011 Bahrain uprising, civilian treatment has declined with the increase of censorship by the government and the widening of the divide between the shia and sunni Muslims. King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has been head of the state since 1999 and his family has been ruling since 1783. King Khalifa rules over a majority of shias, while he himself is part of the minority of sunnis. This partition has widened with the shias claiming they are discriminated on fronts such as healthcare, housing and governmental jobs. Additionally, there is a presence of censorship that the Bahraini people cannot escape.
Bahraini journalists risk five-year prison terms for offences such as what the regime deems as "undermining" the government or Islam, the country’s majority religion. Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) reports the “weekly statistics” of persecuted Bahraini reporters, journalists, campaigners and others in their field in the BIRD newsletter of November 10 to the 16th, and reported that there were 18 arrests and 29 protests on the Bahrain ground. Aiding to these increasing numbers, the Press Law, put into place in 2002, along with the creation of a new constitution, gives the right of freedom of speech "under the rules and conditions laid down by law, provided that the fundamental beliefs of Islamic doctrine are not infringed, the unity of the people is not prejudiced, and discord or sectarianism is not …show more content…
Correspondingly, there is an increase in “repression and censorship of dissenting voices in Bahrain.” Journalists, who often are at the heart of the anti movements, “are serving prison sentences of up to life imprisonment or can even lose their nationality.” Index on Censorship has been supportive of the persecuted journalists and their fight for freedom of speech in
Bahraini journalists risk five-year prison terms for offences such as what the regime deems as "undermining" the government or Islam, the country’s majority religion. Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) reports the “weekly statistics” of persecuted Bahraini reporters, journalists, campaigners and others in their field in the BIRD newsletter of November 10 to the 16th, and reported that there were 18 arrests and 29 protests on the Bahrain ground. Aiding to these increasing numbers, the Press Law, put into place in 2002, along with the creation of a new constitution, gives the right of freedom of speech "under the rules and conditions laid down by law, provided that the fundamental beliefs of Islamic doctrine are not infringed, the unity of the people is not prejudiced, and discord or sectarianism is not …show more content…
Correspondingly, there is an increase in “repression and censorship of dissenting voices in Bahrain.” Journalists, who often are at the heart of the anti movements, “are serving prison sentences of up to life imprisonment or can even lose their nationality.” Index on Censorship has been supportive of the persecuted journalists and their fight for freedom of speech in