Human Rights Bodies Slam Torture of Bahraini Activists
The Peace for Democracy and Human Rights, Bahrain Center for Human Rights, European-Bahraini Organization for Human Rights (EBOHR), Persian Gulf Center for Democracy and Human Rights, and Bahrain Society for Human Rights in a joint statement called on the Al Khalifa regime to end the systematic use of torture to silence human rights activists.
They also called for a visit to Bahrain by Michel Forst, the United Nations Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, in order to investigate the situation of human rights defenders and their families in Bahrain.
Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with Manama using heavy-handed measures in an attempt to crush the demonstrations.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
