In Bahrain, Arab Spring Hopes Are Freezing Over

On the fourth anniversary of protests aimed at reforming Bahrain’s autocratic monarchy, recent events—including 72 people being stripped of citizenship for “harming the interests of the Kingdom”—underscore a worrisome trend: The rights of people in the Middle East are shrinking rather than expanding.

On Jan. 31, Bahrain published a list of Sunni and Shiite Muslims accused of misdeeds against the state and announced it had revoked their citizenship to “preserve security and stability and fight the danger of terrorist threats.” A legislative decree in 2013 granted the state authority to render people stateless for violations of the country’s 2006 Anti-Terrorism Act.

The Middle East is not the only place where citizenship is suspended as punishment. Britain passed legislation last year that allows the government to revoke the citizenship of convicted or even suspected terrorists. But in Arab states such laws are being written and applied broadly to all kinds of dissidents, even those who simply disagree with a government’s policies.

Human Rights Watch sounded alarms last summer when Bahrain authorized its Interior Ministry to abrogate citizenship from individuals who “cause harm to the interests of the Kingdom.” Such a catch-all provision is ripe for abuse, especially in a country that imprisons activists for tweets. (The kingdom also suspended a news channel this month that had hosted an opposition figure criticizing the citizenship suspensions.)

Those whose citizenship was nullified last month include people with links to Islamic State but also exiled democratic activists, including one who caused offense by protesting against the king of Bahrain at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and a blogger who escaped Bahrain in a shipping container in 2013.

Similar actions are taking place around the region. Last year Kuwait stripped at least 33 citizens of their nationality, among them a fundraiser for ISIS but also the owner of a television station and newspapers that allowed opposition activists to speak out. The government of Egypt voided the citizenship of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar last year and recently offered Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy the option of  renouncing his Egyptian nationality in exchange for being granted bail after 400 days in prison on trumped-up charges related to terrorism. Following the example of its neighbors, Oman passed a law in August authorizing the withdrawal of citizenship from those belonging to “a group, party or organization professing principles and beliefs harmful to Oman.” With the sultan ailing, members of the opposition could become fair game should they speak out.

These practices violate customary international law, as groups such as Human Rights Watch have documented. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to a nationality” and that “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights holds that “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.” Bahrain, Kuwait, and Egypt are parties to these covenants.

Yet, as the Economist reported in November, “Courts in Bahrain and Kuwait have ruled that they have no jurisdiction over decisions on nationality. Oman’s law stipulates that a government committee should deal with the matter outside the judicial system.” In short, the euphoria of the Arab Spring is turning into a winter of misery.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the authors.

This article was originally published in The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire.