Executive Summary

This report by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) examines restrictive and coercive measures reportedly taken by states in connection with the regional war, following the renewed escalation of hostilities on 28 February 2026. It covers selected developments from that date until the time of writing in September 2026 in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The report identifies three interconnected patterns: restrictions on freedom of expression and access to information; arrest, detention, and imprisonment for war-related media coverage, commentary, satire, or peaceful assembly; and measures affecting nationality, residency, deportation, or return. The documented measures range from the geo-blocking of entire accounts, internet shutdowns, and interference with broadcasts to lengthy prison sentences, incommunicado detention, deprivation of nationality, and restrictions preventing return.

Despite varying circumstances and legal grounds, national security and public order, alleged disinformation, defence concerns, and alleged sympathy with an enemy state were repeatedly invoked in several cases without sufficient publicly available information to identify the specific conduct targeted, the individual reasons, or the available avenues for review.

When these documented cases are examined collectively, they align with GCHR’s assessment that governments have exploited this regional conflict to completely stifle public freedoms, particularly freedom of expression and access to information.

The consequences have been severe across these three patterns, especially when measures have resulted in prolonged imprisonment, statelessness, or the risk of statelessness, disproportionately affecting women and children, as well as other family members, and preventing individuals from remaining in or returning to the country in question. The report outlines the safeguards and remedial measures necessary to protect freedom of expression and access to information during conflict, prevent arbitrary deprivation of liberty and statelessness, protect family unity, and ensure independent review and effective remedies.

GCHR calls on governments to release people detained solely for peacefully exercising protected rights and to end arbitrary or disproportionate restrictions; technology companies to conduct human rights due diligence on government requests, notify affected users, provide meaningful and accessible appeal mechanisms, and restore accounts or content when restrictions appear to be unjustified; and international partners to press for urgent remedial measures where harm continues.

Introduction

Periods of armed conflict can place exceptional pressure on civic space and on the human rights safeguards governing the exercise of State power. Security concerns invoked during such periods do not, in themselves, displace States’ human rights obligations. Where those concerns are used to restrict peaceful expression, impede independent scrutiny or justify coercive measures, they may intensify or extend repressive practices that pre-date the conflict.

The regional hostilities that form the context of this report entered a new phase on 28 February 2026, when a regional war involving several Gulf states began, bringing the hostilities directly to the region. In the weeks and months that followed, GCHR documented a tightening of restrictions on public freedoms across the Gulf region and neighbouring countries.

In reports published on 19 March and 02 April 2026, GCHR described the actions of authorities in a number of countries as exploiting the wartime context to suppress freedom of expression online and offline and to target individuals whose views did not align with official policies.

In a third report published on 16 September 2026, GCHR documented additional arbitrary measures, including deprivation of nationality, cancellation of residence status, expulsion and restrictions on return, in connection with the war and the resulting regional crisis.

The documented arbitrary measures varied in form, legal nature, and scope. Some restricted the dissemination, circulation, or receipt of information related to the war, including through controls affecting online platforms, internet access, and broadcasting. Others included more direct and harmful measures against targeted citizens, such as arbitrary arrest and detention, followed by imprisonment after sham trials on fabricated charges related to photography, media coverage, commentary, satire, peaceful assembly, alleged sympathy with a foreign state, religious activity, and the activity of a relative that was considered hostile. In general, the authorities targeted the peaceful activities of innocent citizens, deeming them a threat to national security and public order, and an impediment to the country’s defence.

Assessing the combined impact of these measures on society at large and on the citizens targeted by them in particular, it can be said that they affected public access to information, freedom of movement, legal status, family life, and, in some cases, the ability to remain in or return to a country.

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