Human Rights Watch calls for the release of political prisoners in Bahrain

Human Rights Watch deputy director of the Asia Region, Phil Robertson, called on the Bahraini authorities to urgently release the country’s political prisoners.

Human Rights Watch deputy director of the Asia Region, Phil Robertson, called on the Bahraini authorities to urgently release the country’s political prisoners.

This came during a direct YouTube interview he had with the Arab Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights.

Robertson described the seriousness of the situation in prisons as containers that transmit infection in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which is likely to reach prisons and affect the large number, especially the overcrowded ones. 

Robertson considered the continued imprisonment of dissidents and opinion-holders a possible execution due to the presence of coronavirus.

Commenting on the official position in Bahrain on this issue, Robertson said that the authorities are actually harming themselves, stressing that political prisoners have expressed their opinions, which should be guaranteed, and allowed, stressing that political prisoners represent their community and should have a voice.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement last week calling on the ruling authorities in Bahrain to release political and legal figures, warning of the potential catastrophic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in prisons.