The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights file in Bahrain will kick off Monday (May 1, 2017) at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva

Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain and a number of human rights groups strongly condemned the judicial harassment of political activists, human rights defenders, and other civil society actors, attempting to attend international human rights mechanisms such as the UPR.

Bahraini and American human rights organizations strongly condemned the judicial harassment of human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, and other members of civil society attempting to attend international human rights mechanisms such as the UPR, calling on the Government of Bahrain to immediately lift all restrictions on them.

The Khiam Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (KRC) said that “the Bahraini government continues its arbitrary measures against human rights defenders right before the period review of the official national report before the Human Rights Council on May 1.”

Leading Bahraini human rights campaigner Sheikh Maytham al-Salman warned that civilians could lose hope for “peaceful reconciliation” if the government refuses to halt its crackdown on dissent.

Amnesty International highlighted in a statement that Bahrain’s authorities have dramatically escalated their crackdown against critics, summoning 32 people for questioning within the past five days.

Amnesty International issued on its website a report addressing recommendations at 13 states, among them Bahrain.

Amnesty International said that it is alarmed by the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain, in its oral statement to the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly rejected what was said in the statement delivered by the Swiss Representative before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on March 14 in which it included some allegations about torturing dissidents and using excessive force in dealing with peaceful protestors.

The Permanent Representative of Bahrain at the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Yousef Abdul Karim Bucheeri, slammed Swiss Confederation, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, and France for criticizing his country’s human rights record.

France, Czech Republic, Ireland, and Denmark criticized Bahrain's human rights record, and called on Manama to abolish all restrictions imposed on civil society associations.

The European Union (EU) said that it “recognizes the challenges that Bahrain faces as well as the progress made with the establishment of a number of institutions designed to enhance the protection of human rights in the country.”

In a statement at the Human Rights Council, Switzerland called on Bahrain to fully cooperate with the council. It confirmed that Bahrain is among the countries that practice repression against civil society, in violation of its international binding commitments.

The United Arab Emirates regretted the statement of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad, concerning Bahrain.

Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said that the Assistant Foreign Minister Abdulla Al-Dosari met on Wednesday (March 1, 2017) the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scott Busby on the sidelines of the 34th session of Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, warned political leaders who launched campaigns against universal human rights.

A number of human rights groups urged permanent representatives of member and observer states of UN Human Rights Council to call for improvements in human rights situation in Bahrain at 34th HRC session.

The Belfast Telegraph newspaper stated that the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd insisted that the Bahraini police were on a study visit to observe "best practice in human rights-based public order policing". He said the delegation observed public order events, followed by presentations on PSNI public order policing.

Bahrain continues to express arrogance when addressing the UN. The government thinks it’s free to arbitrarily arrest, torture, revoke nationalities and even expel its own citizens.

Bahraini human rights organizations condemned “the ugly massacre in a community hall in the Yemeni capital Sanaa,” calling on to bring the perpetrators to the international justice.