Europe & Middle East / Working Paper
Bahrain: reaching a Threshold
14/04/2009 By Edward Burke
Bahrain’s top-down reforms, initiated by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa in 2001, were a welcome respite for a population weary of the violence and state repression that characterised much of the preceding decade. King Hamad’s relatively benign treatment of CSOs and his tolerance for a wider degree of freedom of expression has won international praise, most effusively from the United States.
The lack of legislative and judicial reform however, means that Bahrain’s political societies, CSOs, journalists and trade unions continue to operate under flawed and inconsistently applied legislation. Restrictive legislation such as the associations’ law, public gatherings law and the legislation governing trade unions and the media urgently require amendment to concretely secure the rights which Bahrain is required to observe under its international obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
As the 10th year of King Hamad’s reign approaches, in this working paper, Ed Burke argues that Bahrain has reached an impasse in its reform process.
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Freedom of association in the Middle East and North AfricaKeywords
Bahrain Civil society Democracy promotion Democratisation EU European Union Middle EastBio author: Edward Burke
Edward Burke is a Researcher at FRIDE's Democratisation Programme who analyses political reform trends in the Persian Gulf region, including the GCC states, Iraq and Yemen. He is also working on an ongoing project to evaluate the relationship between energy security and democracy. Edward holds an MA degree in War Studies from King's College London.
