Geneva, March 11 (RHC)-- The United Nations high commissioner for human rights has censured the government in Bahrain for its harsh crackdown on dissent, calling on Manama to carry out fundamental reforms.  Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein on Thursday expressed concern about frequent cases of arrest of dissidents in Bahrain, saying such measures show that the government is determined to muzzle rights campaigners in the country, Bahraini media reported.

The senior UN official, who was delivering his main annual speech to the UN Human Rights Council in the Swiss city of Geneva, called on the government and courts in Bahrain to stop handing down sentences that strip dissidents of their nationality, saying the Persian Gulf country is in need of "deep and fundamental reforms.”