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.