human rights defender
Naji Fateel
Actions and Campaigns
Naji Fateel
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
Organization affiliation
- Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR)
HRD's year of birth
1974
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- NGO member
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
HRD's geographical origin
Rural
Current Status
In prison (pre-trial)
HRD's bio and work
Naji Fateel is a prominent Bahraini human rights defender and co-founder of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), an independent organisation that documents human rights violations and advocates for the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association in Bahrain. He has been widely recognised for his work monitoring abuses and promoting democratic and human rights reforms.
As a result of his activism, Fateel has been repeatedly targeted by Bahraini authorities. He was first detained on 2 May 2013 and subsequently received multiple prison sentences totaling 25 years and six months. In 2022, his case was examined by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which concluded in Opinion No. 65/2022 that his deprivation of liberty was arbitrary and linked to the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights, while also finding violations of his right to a fair trial.
After spending more than eleven years in prison, Naji Fateel was released on 8 April 2024 under a royal pardon.
Among the cases against him was the 2015 Jau Prison case, in which he was one of the 57 defendants convicted in 2016 over protests inside the prison. The defendants were collectively ordered to pay approximately USD 1.35 million in compensation for alleged damages, with Mr Fateel’s individual share calculated at approximately USD 23,700, payable in monthly instalments of approximately USD 996. Individuals unable to meet these payments reportedly risk imprisonment.
On 17 February 2025, UN Special Rapporteurs expressed concerns regarding ongoing reprisals against Fateel since his release, including being summoned by the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) for questioning on more than one occasion, losing his job, and being denied his housing allowance, which had been cut off since his detention in 2013. He has been repeatedly told by the Ministry of Housing that his application is under review. He believes this is linked to his human rights defence work after his release from prison.
Detained since
Aug 18, 2026
Charge(s)
- Financial crimes
Latitude: 25.991655349741166
Longitude: 50.61646255703233
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Asia: Western Asia
Location of detention - City/Town
Jaww
Location of detention - Facility
Jau Prison
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
During his previous detention, Naji Fateel reported being subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment following his arrest in 2013. He alleged that he was physically abused during interrogation and denied basic safeguards.
While held in Jau Prison, Fateel also raised concerns about prison conditions, including inadequate medical care and restrictions on prisoners' rights. He participated in protests and hunger strikes to draw attention to these issues and to the treatment of detainees more generally.
Recent case update / evolution
On 16 June 2026, Naji Fateel and a group of others facing fines under the Jau Prison case wrote directly to the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, His Highness Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, copying the Ministers of Justice and Interior and the Sentence Enforcement Judge, asking the authorities to recognise the effect of the 2024 pardon on the outstanding penalties, to halt enforcement measures that could return them to prison, to clarify their legal position, and to ensure that no one released under the pardon would be imprisoned solely for being unable to pay.
On 18 August 2026 at around 5:45am, plain-clothes police officers raided Naji Fateel’s flat in Bani Jamra while he and his family were asleep and arrested him. According to Fateel, the officers did not present a warrant or explain the reason for the arrest before taking him away, allowing him only enough time to dress before placing him in a police vehicle. His children and mother were reportedly left deeply frightened by the raid. It was only after Fateel had been taken outside that officers informed him his arrest was related to an outstanding financial payment linked to one of the earlier cases against him.
On 20 August 2026, Naji Fateel was transferred from East Riffa Police Station to Jau Prison.
Any other relevant documents
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 65/2022 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/detention-wg/opinions/session95/A-HRC-WGAD-2022-65-AEV.pdf
Joint communication, UN Special procedures, AL BHR 1/2025 https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=29695
Attachments
Documented by
- Country(ies) of nationality
- HRD's year of birth
- 1974
- HRD's Gender
- Man
- Type of HRD
- NGO member
- HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
- Organization affiliation
- Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR)
- HRD's Picture
- HRD's bio and work
Naji Fateel is a prominent Bahraini human rights defender and co-founder of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), an independent organisation that documents human rights violations and advocates for the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association in Bahrain. He has been widely recognised for his work monitoring abuses and promoting democratic and human rights reforms.
As a result of his activism, Fateel has been repeatedly targeted by Bahraini authorities. He was first detained on 2 May 2013 and subsequently received multiple prison sentences totaling 25 years and six months. In 2022, his case was examined by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which concluded in Opinion No. 65/2022 that his deprivation of liberty was arbitrary and linked to the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights, while also finding violations of his right to a fair trial.
After spending more than eleven years in prison, Naji Fateel was released on 8 April 2024 under a royal pardon.
Among the cases against him was the 2015 Jau Prison case, in which he was one of the 57 defendants convicted in 2016 over protests inside the prison. The defendants were collectively ordered to pay approximately USD 1.35 million in compensation for alleged damages, with Mr Fateel’s individual share calculated at approximately USD 23,700, payable in monthly instalments of approximately USD 996. Individuals unable to meet these payments reportedly risk imprisonment.
On 17 February 2025, UN Special Rapporteurs expressed concerns regarding ongoing reprisals against Fateel since his release, including being summoned by the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) for questioning on more than one occasion, losing his job, and being denied his housing allowance, which had been cut off since his detention in 2013. He has been repeatedly told by the Ministry of Housing that his application is under review. He believes this is linked to his human rights defence work after his release from prison.
- HRD's geographical origin
- Rural
- Country or area of detention
- Region of detention
- Asia: Western Asia
- Location of detention - City/Town
- Jaww
- Location of detention - Facility
- Jau Prison
- Geolocation of detention
Latitude: 25.991655349741166
Longitude: 50.61646255703233
- Geolocation of detention
- Detained since
- Aug 18, 2026
- Current Status
- In prison (pre-trial)
- Charge(s)
- Financial crimes
- Recent case update / evolution
On 16 June 2026, Naji Fateel and a group of others facing fines under the Jau Prison case wrote directly to the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, His Highness Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, copying the Ministers of Justice and Interior and the Sentence Enforcement Judge, asking the authorities to recognise the effect of the 2024 pardon on the outstanding penalties, to halt enforcement measures that could return them to prison, to clarify their legal position, and to ensure that no one released under the pardon would be imprisoned solely for being unable to pay.
On 18 August 2026 at around 5:45am, plain-clothes police officers raided Naji Fateel’s flat in Bani Jamra while he and his family were asleep and arrested him. According to Fateel, the officers did not present a warrant or explain the reason for the arrest before taking him away, allowing him only enough time to dress before placing him in a police vehicle. His children and mother were reportedly left deeply frightened by the raid. It was only after Fateel had been taken outside that officers informed him his arrest was related to an outstanding financial payment linked to one of the earlier cases against him.
On 20 August 2026, Naji Fateel was transferred from East Riffa Police Station to Jau Prison.
- Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
During his previous detention, Naji Fateel reported being subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment following his arrest in 2013. He alleged that he was physically abused during interrogation and denied basic safeguards.
While held in Jau Prison, Fateel also raised concerns about prison conditions, including inadequate medical care and restrictions on prisoners' rights. He participated in protests and hunger strikes to draw attention to these issues and to the treatment of detainees more generally.
- Protection actions and campaigns
- Any other relevant documents
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 65/2022 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/detention-wg/opinions/session95/A-HRC-WGAD-2022-65-AEV.pdf
Joint communication, UN Special procedures, AL BHR 1/2025 https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=29695
- Documented by
- Consent status
- Consent to register, store and publish the information
sorted by
Date added
6 relationships, 5 entities