By IRNA,
London : Amnesty International has warned the Bahraini government to end its “relentless crackdown on human rights” after the country’s parliament voted to extend a repressive state of emergency amid continued arrests of dissidents.
‘The Bahraini authorities must stop detaining anyone who opposes them and release protesters who have been locked up for peacefully demanding reform,’ said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
‘Even since the protests on the streets were violently crushed in mid-March the government’s persecution of dissidents has not abated, while the renewal of the so-called ‘State of National Safety’ will only exacerbate this human rights crisis,’ Luther said.
The London-based human rights group said the emergency law had been used to arrest without judicial warrant and detain incommunicado protesters and political activists, as well as to try civilians before military courts.
Recent arrests have included two MPs from al-Wefaq, Jalal Fairuz, 48, and Matar Ibrahim Matar, 35, who were arrested by armed men wearing civilian clothes on Monday and their whereabouts are unknown.
Amnesty said that the arrests came after both have been critical of the government and have given media interviews to international media outlets.
All 18 al-Wefaq MPs had resigned from parliament in February in protest against the government’s killings and excessive use of forces against demonstrators.
Amnesty, which has previously called on the governments of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to immediately restrain their security forces in the country, said that medical professionals also continue to be targeted for arrest, with Dr Ahmed Jamal, President of Bahrain Medical Society, detained on Monday.
“Around 47 other doctors and nurses, some detained for weeks, are facing trial in a military court after they were yesterday charged for their role in treating anti-government protesters,” it said.
It also pointed out that the overwhelming majority of those detained since March are Shi’a Muslims who were active during the protests, most of whose whereabouts remain unknown.
“Some detainees have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated following arrest and at least four people have died in suspicious circumstances.
The dismissal of government employees who were known to have participated in protests continues unabated,” it also reported.
In addition, several Shi’a mosques were said to have been destroyed by the security forces under “increased suspicions that the whole of the majority Shi’a population of Bahrain is being punished for the February-March protests, which called for reforms and, in some cases, regime change.”