Bahrain’s king takes activists by surprise with pardon for at least 1,500 prisoners

Bahrain has unconditionally released more than 1,500 prisoners, including political detainees, in the biggest royal pardon since the 2011 Arab spring uprising.

The amnesty followed years of campaigning inside the country and by international human rights groups but came as a complete surprise to activists.

Amnesty Bahrain said: “This is a welcome step. Many of [the prisoners] should not have been imprisoned in the first place.”

The releases were ordered by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, coinciding with Eid and the silver jubilee of the king taking power. The US embassy in Bahrain welcomed the move and expressed the hope that all those being released will be reunited with their families.

Many of the detainees have been held in Jau prison, where campaigners said more than 600 political prisoners remain, including some in need of urgent medical help. Recent riots inside prisons had made the expense of keeping so many behind bars a burden on the state.

Related: At least 500 Bahraini prisoners on hunger strike over conditions

The changes also represent a chance for Bahrain to improve its global image, increase foreign direct investment and encourage tourism. It followed a visit to Saudi Arabia by Bahrain’s crown prince, a visit that might have led to a Saudi endorsement of the move.

On social media, joyful scenes of families being reunited in their homes were screened, including some who had not been in their family home for as long as a decade.

But Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the British-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: “This came as a complete shock. There had been no prior indication, and this is the most important release programme since 2011. The release is bittersweet as there are still 600 political prisoners behind bars and on death row.”

With two of his own brothers in law among the freed prisoners, Alwadaei said: “The releases coincide with a lot of unease inside Bahrain about the state’s support for Israel, but they coincide with significant unrest in Jau prison, where nearly a thousand political prisoners had refused to return to their cells over maltreatment.”

Some of those released issued chants against the US and the continued Israeli assault on Gaza.

Bahrain, a close UK ally and home to the US fifth fleet, has been the only Gulf state to publicly back the US-led maritime coalition seeking to prevent Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which began after the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas.

Bahrain has undertaken a delicate balancing act, criticising Israel even though it has normalised relations with the country and been sharply critical of the Hamas atrocity.

Among those retained in prison include Hassan Mushaima, the head of the opposition group Al-Haq, and Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a Danish-Bahraini human rights defender serving a life sentence in Bahrain for peaceful human rights work.

A spokesperson for the Bahrain government said: “The royal pardon … marks one point in a broader journey for the Kingdom of Bahrain.

“Bahrain has one of the lowest recidivism rates internationally at 2.5% among those engaged in alternative sentencing and open prisons.”