Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Hundreds of activists and tweeters took part in a widespread media campaign under the hashtag #Prisoner_without_Rights, shedding light on the numerous violations committed against the 4,000 political prisoners in Bahrain.

Under the hashtag, Bahraini Human rights activist Ebtisam Al-Sayegh said "the law stipulates that everyone has the right to liberty and security. None should be deprived of their liberty. Meanwhile, most prisoners of conscience were not given their most basic right, i.e. the right to contact their families and lawyers after their arbitrary arrests. These prisoners were subjected to different forms of torture and the sentences against them were issued based on confessions extracted under torture." Al-Sayegh attached her tweet with a photo of the prisoners on death row.

For his part, human rights activist Ahmad Al-Saffar tweeted saying that most of the prisoners "are referred to the Public Prosecution without a lawyer, especially at first. They are also assaulted by beatings according to many reports issued by a number of human rights organizations."

"My brother Mohammad Al-Khabbaz is also imprisoned and deprived of his rights. He lost vision in one of his eyes as a result of an injury he sustained during torture. His other eye is currently getting weaker due to medical negligence and prevention of treatment," said activist Ahmad Al-Khabbaz.

Meanwhile, twitter user Khasef Al-Na'el said: "Winter season was so brutal and cold this year on our beloved ones in Jaw prison. There is no hot water for showering, and prison officers deliberately turn on the air conditioners, which they are in charge of, in the prison cells. They also prevent prisoners from access to winter clothing."

"Many of the prisoners refrain from visits due to the humiliation and beatings they are subjected to by the police, besides their handcuffing, degrading body searches and glass barriers [in visiting rooms], as well as the humiliations their families are subjected to during searches, and the insults and ill-treatment they are exposed to by police," he added.

Commenting on the situation in Bahraini prisons, Deputy President of the Bahrain Teachers Association Jalila Al-Salman wondered, "isn't strange that everyone who gets arrested complains about ill-treatment whether at the moment of arrest, during interrogation, in detention or in trials. Meanwhile, state institutions affirm abiding by legal and human rights commitments. Could it be that all of these prisoners are only fabricating stories?"'

"The Majority of houses in Bahrain have become victims of arbitrary arrests," said writer Abbas Al-Morshed, stressing that there are nearly "4,000 prisoners, whose ages range between 14 and 70 and are imprisoned over political charges, are subjected to systematic torture."

In a tweet, activist Ahmed Jassim also pointed out that "the imprisoned figures have been prevented from [family] visits since over a year, because they refused to be exposed to the humiliating measures and degrading searches they are subjected to before visits."

A number of activists published as well accounts of torture of some prisoners, focusing on what they were subjected to and what they are still facing now, particularly regarding the deprivation of treatment that hundreds of political prisoners suffer from in Bahraini prisons.

Arabic Version