Key US ally Bahrain strips dissenters of citizenship

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Hasan Jamali / AP fileBahrain riot police watch as a protester holds up a picture of jailed political leader Hassan Mushaima with the words "Mushaima is in danger," during a protest in Duraz, Bahrain, on Friday. Mushaima's son is on the list of people whose citizenship has been revoked.By Ian Johnston, NBC NewsBahrain’s government said Wednesday that it had revoked the citizenship of 31 Bahrainis, described by human rights activists as mostly former political detainees.

Two human rights groups, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, issued a joint statement expressing their “grave concern over the systematic targeting of prominent political activists, former members of parliament, clerics and others.”

They called on the United States, U.K., United Nations and others to put pressure on the Bahraini authorities to reverse the decision and allow freedom of expression, and also to “immediately stop the systematic and widespread human-rights violations.”

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