Alwaght- In a direct statement to the Bahraini rulers, Human Rights Watch has called for addressing the grievances of hunger strikers in the country.
The brazen statement was released on Sunday as reports suggested that Bahraini prisoners striking in protest to unjust imprisonment are in worsening conditions.
The statement called on the authorities to “release all unjustly detained and treat all prisoners humanely.”
It further said that Bahraini should take urgent steps to address the grievances of hundreds of prisoners now on hunger strike and ensure that prisoners are treated humanely, as required under international law.
“The authorities should also release anyone serving a prison term solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, starting with prominent human rights defenders Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Abduljalil al-Singace,” part of the statement read.
The statement pointed to the notorious Jau Prison in the tiny kingdom that hosts many of the opposition prisoners.
Niku Jafarnia, Bahrain and Yemen researcher at HRW said: “Many of the inmates on hunger strike in Jau prison are being held after grossly unfair trials and have experienced years of abuse in custody.... Bahraini authorities need to ensure humane detention conditions and immediately release those unjustly imprisoned.”
More than 400 inmates in Jau prison, the country’s largest prison, initiated a hunger strike on August 7, 2023, to protest abysmal detention conditions and denial of health care. According to the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, as of August 30, more than 800 were on the hunger strike.
Prisoners at Jau in some cases are being forced to spend 23 hours a day in their cells. Inmates are calling for an end to prolonged solitary confinement, more than one hour daily outside of their cells in the prison yard, prayer in congregation at the prison mosque, family visits without glass barriers, and needed access to health care. Prisoners, including al-Khawaja and al-Singace, have said that prison authorities refuse to refer them to specialists and deny them access to essential medicines.
During coronavirus outbreak, reports claimed that the jail authorities intentionally exposed the prisoners to disease buy denying them vaccination and putting them in crowded cells.
