Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) in cooperation with SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights; Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (GIDHR); the Journalist Support Committee (JSC) held a press conference marking the 12th anniversary of Bahrain's popular uprising entitled "Bahrain: 12 years of Prisons and Relentless Repression".

Head of BFHR Baqer Darwish said in his intervention that the authorities in Bahrain, led by the Supreme Defense Council, and under the supervision of the Minister of Interior and other security institutions, have turned prisons into a retaliation place.

He added that the authorities didn't respond to the calls launched by the opposition to reach a solution, but instead resorted to systematic collective political repression, and invented forms of torture, most notably the denial of medical treatment.

Darwish pointed out that more than 600 prisoners of conscience are currently on strike to demand improving prison conditions and the right to practice rituals, while the authority claims coexistence to justify its humiliating normalization with the enemy entity.

He also spoke about "the authority's security doctrine" which "proposes alternative punishments instead of achieving human rights reform and whitewashing prisons of prisoners of conscience."

Baqer noted that hundreds of people were sentenced to life imprisonment after unfair trials.

Head of Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, Jawad Fairooz, said that the ongoing popular movement erupted in response to a political crisis that generated human rights, economic and social crises.

Fairooz questioned the credibility of the human rights reform, which the international human rights organizations talk about, explaining that "violations are a crime that still exists and there is no prospect of a radical solution."

He noted that 12 out of 26 torture victims are at risk of imminent execution after exhausting all judicial procedures, while Manama renege on their promises.

He said that last December the United Nations requested a suspension of the execution of the death sentence, but Bahrain refuse to sign the request.

Jawad Fairooz stressed that the international committees confirm the continuation of violations in a systematic manner, and this was proven, in November, by the Anti-Discrimination Committee, which confirmed the lack of equal opportunities in Bahrain, as well as the Committee against Torture and the Committee on Women's Rights, in addition to the Universal Periodic Review, which all confirm Bahrain's disregard of international recommendations regarding amending the human rights situation. This proves that Bahrain is not serious in achieving reform.

Arabic Version