Bahraini rights groups appeal to International community over Manama’s abuses against detainees

Bahraini rights groups called on international organizations, UN – Special Rapporteurs, and member states of the UN Human Rights Council to seek “unconditional access” to Bahrain’s detention facilities and urgently look into the plight of the detainees.

Bahraini rights groups called on international organizations, UN – Special Rapporteurs, and member states of the UN Human Rights Council to seek “unconditional access” to Bahrain’s detention facilities and urgently look into the plight of the detainees.

A joint statement released by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), the Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR), the Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (GIDHR), SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM) and The European-Bahraini Organization for Human Rights (EBOHR) also calls on Manama to “immediately release prisoners of conscience and respect international covenants.”

According to data cited by the rights groups, more than 12,000 Bahrainis have been subjected to arbitrary detention since 2011, including 968 minors. Bahraini detention facilities, plagued by overcrowding, currently house 4,000 prisoners.

The detainees demanded that the authorities end their use of “torture and ill-treatment”, and improve access to medical care.

The rights groups assert that “ill detainees … suffer from inadequate medical care and treatment,” constituting a direct violation of prior UN recommendations, which called on Manama to adopt the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.