Fact Sheet – Bahrain's Largest Amnesty in Decades: Who Was Left Behind?

On April 8, 2024, the Bahraini government granted the largest amnesty in more than two decades, releasing 1,584 detainees, including more than half of the political prisoners in the country. Two months later, on June 15, 2024, they pardoned another 545 people, including eight political prisoners, to mark Eid al Adha. Despite these significant releases, 546 political prisoners, including some of Bahrain’s most prominent rights defenders, remain behind bars.

A new fact sheet from the Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC) and the Bahrain Institute for Rights & Democracy (BIRD), “Bahrain’s Largest Amnesty in Decades: Who was Left Behind?” breaks down the numbers and takes a look at the cases of some of the human rights defenders still behind bars.

This fact sheet is also available as a PDF.