Despite Bahrain's announcement of normalizing relations with Israel in 2020, the normalization steps taken in 2021 were numerous, totaling approximately 25 normalization steps. Not a month passed without Bahrain taking new normalization measures with the Israeli entity, accumulating around 25 normalization steps throughout the year.

In 2021, Bahrain witnessed 49 violations against freedom of media, opinion, and expression, with half of these incidents related to Internet cases, specifically 26 cases. As revealed by the annual monitoring conducted by Bahrain Press Association (BPA), the majority of documented cases involved summonses for interrogation at police centers and public prosecution.

The Ashura season of 2021 in Bahrain unfolded against a backdrop of heightened security measures that seemed to target the Shiite community. Commencing in August, the authorities implemented strict measures and stringent conditions, restricting the commemoration of Ashura rituals.

In July 2021, detained academic Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace went on an open hunger strike in protest against the confiscation of one of his researches by an official in Jaw Prison and the continuous mistreatment he is subjected to.

The aftermath of the Al-Ula summit in early 2021, signaling the end of the Gulf dispute with Qatar, did not bring about the expected reconciliation between Bahrain and Qatar.

The plight of detainees in Bahrain's prisons was far from an improvement over preceding years. A disturbing narrative unfolded in 2021, revealing deliberate medical negligence, a severe Coronavirus outbreak, hunger strikes, physical attacks, and a lack of humane treatment within the confines of the Dry Dock and Jaw Central prisons.

Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim issued (September 18, 2021) a statement calling on the opposition to unify their stance, in the face of government projects that seek to pass "weak formal reforms" and eliminate key demands.

In 2021, systematic official medical negligence killed political and non-political prisoners. Meanwhile, the appeals of the families of sick prisoners and human rights activists were made to no avail.

Poet Ghazi Al-Haddad passed away on Tuesday (June 22, 2021) after a struggle with a disease that lasted for 2 years.

2021 was a hard year on Bahrainis following the Coronavirus outbreak and the infection of more than 188,000 throughout the year.

2021 was a saddening and harsh year for the families of two Bahrainis, who were stripped of their citizenships and forcibly deported. Haj Mohammad Fathi and eulogy reciter Sayed Amir Al-Mousawi died abroad and far from their families.

In an attempt to strain the Gulf-Lebanese atmosphere, the Bahraini authorities protested against a press conference held by Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society in Beirut on human rights in Bahrain.

The government of Bahrain announced (November 1, 2021) an economic recovery plan after the failure of a similar plan it launched late 2018.

The Citizen Lab issued on Tuesday (August 24, 2021) a report on the Bahraini government spying on the activists' phone through iPhone spyware by the Israeli NSO group for technology.

On November 1, 2021, the head of the General Directorate of Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security, lieutenant General Badr Al-Gaith (1981-2021), one of the officers involved in torture cases, dies.

The security authorities released prominent political dissident Mohammad Jawad Pervez on April 9, 2021, as part of the alternative penalty law, after he spent more than a decade in prison.

On December 27, 1947, the political agent in the Gulf, Rupert Hay, wrote confidential letter S223 entitled "Unrests against Events in Palestine". He said; "the political agent visited the Shaikh [Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa] with the adviser and expressed his regret that the rioting had happened...