Introduction: Since His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa acceded to the throne, the Kingdom of Bahrain has witnessed important transformations toward fostering greater democratic frameworks, entrenching the foundations of the rule of law, and building an integrated legislative and regulatory system, actual and practical practices, and public institutions that work to support the human rights system. These are fundamental transformations aimed at advancing the course of human rights and public freedoms and ensuring that individuals fully enjoy such rights and liberties. The Ninth Annual Report of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) for the year 2021 comes - at a time of the continued spread of Covid-19 and its impact on a range of human rights and fundamental freedoms - in accordance with the provision of Article No. (21) of Law No. (26) of 2014 establishing the NIHR, as amended by Decree-Law No. (20) of 2016, stating that: “The Council of Commissioners shall produce an annual report on the efforts, activities and work streams of the Institution. It shall include a section explaining the level of progress on the human rights situation in the Kingdom, as well as any observations and comments within its competency, identifying any obstacles to the Institution’s performance and the solutions adopted to circumvent them. The Council of Commissioners shall present the report to the King, the Prime Ministers, the Presentative Council, and the Shura Council. The report shall be presented to the public in parallel.” The Ninth Annual Report consists of five chapters preceded by an introduction. The First Chapter demonstrates the development of NIHR’s work in terms of its legal framework and the organizational structure of its functions. The Second Chapter shows the level of progress achieved in the human rights situation in the Kingdom by presenting the impact of the digital transformation in government services on human rights, and the actions taken regarding the recommendations contained in the NIHR’s annual reports during the past two years 2018 and 2019. The Third Chapter is dedicated to five topics, which had an impact on the human rights situation considering the complaints received, requests for legal aid submitted, and cases monitored and observed by the NIHR during the planned period for preparing the annual report. It reviews the right to health of average persons and whose liberty is restricted, the right to communicate with the outside world of persons whose freedom is restricted, the right to physical and mental integrity of ordinary persons and whose liberty is restricted, the right to work, and the right to nationality. Ninth Annual Report of the NIHR 5

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