Bahrain’s Prison Release Positive but Insufficient

Expand Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab arrives for his appeal hearing at court in Manama, February 11, 2015. © 2015 Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters On March 17, the Bahraini Interior Ministry announced it had released 1,486 detainees for “humanitarian reasons, in the backdrop of current circumstances,” a likely reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. About 900 of them were granted royal pardons, while 585 were given non-custodial sentences under Bahrain’s law on alternative sentencing. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights estimates that among them, around 300 political prisoners were released.…

© Human Rights Watch - lundi 23 mars 2020