Human rights groups have called on Formula One's teams to boycott their planned racing return to Bahrain for the 2012 season, amidst continued reports of disturbances and human rights violations in the tiny Gulf kingdom.
The Bahrain Grand Prix has been re-integrated into the 2012 calendar, after the race was called off last season.
The 2011 race was dropped after a wave of political protests engulfed the country last February, as part of the 'Arab Spring' protests across the Middle East.
Despite the protests continuing and reports of human rights violations in the country, F1 is set to return to Bahrain on April 22nd this year.
However, prominent human rights groups are now calling for F1 to boycott the race and their planned trip to Bahrain.
"We will do a campaign for drivers and teams to boycott," the vice president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab, told the Arabian Business website.
He added that F1's presence in the country would be seen as an indicator that the country was now back to 'normal', despite protests continuing.
"The government wants Formula One to tell the outside world that everything is back to normal," he went on.
"Formula One, if they come, they are helping the government to say [it is normal]. We would prefer it if they didn't take part.
"I am sure the drivers and teams respect human rights."
His view was backed up by Mariwan Hama-Saeed of Human Rights Watch, who said that the country remained "unstable and polarised" despite the apparent calm of recent months.
"[The FIA] should consider the serious abuse of human rights in Bahrain and the fact that to this day authorities continue to suppress pro-democracy protests," he said.
"I doubt that Formula 1 can be a success in a country where serious human rights abuses have been committed.
"The political situation is unstable and polarised in Bahrain. We are very concerned about the government's commitment to implement meaningful reform."
However, F1 still appears committed to returning to Bahrain, with Bernie Ecclestone saying late last year that he was sure the 2012 race would go ahead.
"It's on the calendar," he said in November, "We'll be there, unless something terrible happens to stop us."
The Bahrain GP is just one of a series of planned races in Bahrain this year. The GP2 Series will support the F1 weekend, and also enjoy a standalone race on the following weekend.
Meanwhile, the inaugural World Endurance Championship is set to race at the Sakhir track on September 29th.
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