GCHR Says Violations Ongoing in Bahrain, Demands Applying "Magnitsky Act" against Perpetrators

2023-04-02 - 1:54 م

Bahrain Mirror: The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) affirmed in its 2022 annual report the continued violations, ill-treatment and deteriorating prison conditions in Bahrain, and called for imposing sanctions against officials in Bahrain under the Magnitsky Act.

The center stressed that "diseases are spreading in Bahrain's prisons, detainees are deprived of treatment, and crimes of torture against detained human rights defenders continue," noting that "the Bahraini authorities arrested 173 citizens in 2021 due to their pro-democracy activities."

GCHR said that there are accountability mechanisms in Bahrain on papers, but they are ineffective, and there is no indication that perpetrators face punishment or deterrence effectively, noting that abuse continues.

It called for imposing sanctions on officials in Bahrain under the Magnitsky Act, which was recently adopted by the United Kingdom after the United States, and which is used by European Union and other countries.

The center called on the Bahraini authorities to "release prisoners of conscience and hold accountable those who tortured human rights defenders and activists under the principle of universal jurisdiction."

Arabic Version