Human rights defenders in Bahrain are facing increasing challenges in carrying out their human rights work. The authorities have sought to target independent human rights organisations and restrict their human rights activities. Human Rights defenders have been subjected to arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, fabricated judicial proceedings, threats and harassment. Despite provisions for basic rights in Bahraini law and the fact that it has ratified a number of international human rights treaties, the enjoyment of civil and political rights is,in practice, limited.

Law 21/1989, which regulates the establishment and functioning of civil society organisations, restricts freedom of association and is viewed by most human rights defenders as one of the main obstacles hindering the work of non-governmental organisations (NGO's). Registration is often used to hinder the work of human rights defenders. The authorities unreasonably delay registration, which may take up to several years, or refuse it without providing any reasonable grounds. There are several examples of organisations that have not been granted registration to date, despite having applied up to five years earlier. Members of unregistered organisations and committees are often harassed and their events disrupted on the grounds that the organisation is unregistered. However, during the past two years the Government has also increasingly targeted registered human rights groups.

Freedom of expression is severely restricted. Most media outlets are directly or indirectly controlled by the government, and often attack and criticise human rights organisations and their members. In 2008 there was a campaign of defamation in a number of media outlets against human rights defenders who attended a human rights meeting in the United States.

The law prohibits unauthorised public gatherings of more than five persons and public gatherings need to be notified to the Ministry of the Interior twenty four hours previously. There have been reports of the use of excessive force by security forces when dispersing demonstrations. New legislation, under the guise of counter-terrorism, has contributed to infringements of fundamental freedoms and is used to further restrict the activities of human rights defenders.