More than 2,000 workers in Bahrain have been dismissed from their jobs since late March, apparently for  participating in or supporting pro-democracy demonstrations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

The labor movement in Bahrain has asserted that the dismissals have violated Bahraini labor laws.  Human Rights Watch adds the dismissals may also violate international standards, in particular those banning discrimination on the basis of political opinion.  HRW called on Bahrain’s government to reinstate and compensate the workers if an investigation finds they were illegally fired.

The HRW report supports the statements made in an AFL-CIO complaint against Bahrain that is now being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The complaint, filed April 21 with the Office of Trade and Labor Affairs, documents the Bahrain government’s repression of peaceful protests and attacks on the independent General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions (GFBTU). Click here to read the complaint.

For three months, the union movement around the world and in the United States has called on the government of Bahrain to halt its all-out attack against workers.

As of July 12, 2,186 workers, many in key firms in which the state has a financial stake, had been fired since late March, according to GFBTU. In most cases the stated reasons seem to have been absence from work during street protests and the initial days of martial law.

“These companies carried out widespread summary dismissals that appear to violate laws as well as Bahrain’s obligations as a member state of the International Labor Organization (ILO),” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

The government needs to respect, and ensure that companies respect the right of workers and employees to assemble peacefully and to hold dissenting political beliefs without facing politically motivated reprisals.