Rights Groups Call for Release of Bahrain Prisoners
The groups in a statement underlined the need for Bahrain to comply with the demand of Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for the release of prisoners of conscience, the Bahrain Mirror daily reported.
They urged Manama to put the release of prisoners as part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Jails and detention centers are high-risk places for spread of infectious diseases and conditions there do not allow for carrying out social distancing measures, they stressed.
Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged all countries release prisoners to stem spread of the coronavirus.
“COVID-19 has begun to strike prisons, jails and immigration detention centers, as well as residential care homes and psychiatric hospitals, and risks rampaging through such institutions' extremely vulnerable populations,” she said.
“Authorities should examine ways to release those particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, among them older detainees and those who are sick, as well as low-risk offenders."
Bachelet pointed out that detention facilities in many countries are severely overcrowded, making detainees and staff particularly vulnerable to catching the deadly new coronavirus.
“People are often held in unhygienic conditions and health services are inadequate or even non-existent. Physical distancing and self-isolation in such conditions are practically impossible,” she noted.
