Bahrain Mirror: Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society responded to the allegations of the National Institution for Human Rights that denied the presence of any political prisoner in Bahrain by revealing statistics and numbers it has prepared throughout the past 10 years.

Al-Wefaq said in a statement (Thursday, January 27, 2022) that there have been more than 20,000 arbitrary arrests of citizens from 2011 until the middle of last year, including 1,716 children and more than 300 women.

Between 2019 and 2021, 198 life sentences and 309 citizenship revocation verdicts were issued.  

Al-Wefaq reviewed the international positions that confirm the presence of political detainees, most notably issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on April 30, 2021, which stated that "those being detained for expression of critical or dissenting views, protected by international human rights law, should be released immediately."

It also reviewed the European Parliament's stance on March 13, 2021, which called on the Bahraini authorities to "immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience."

Al-Wefaq's statement outlined the stances of the world's two largest human rights organizations, as Amnesty issued a statement on December 6, 2021, saying "10 days before National Day of Bahrain, we urge the King to put an end to the cruel and unjust punishments against prisoners of conscience and to order their immediate and unconditional release." Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on January 15, 2021 "Bahrain has one of the highest incarceration rates per capita in the Middle East," wondering "Would the authorities expand amnesty to include prisoners of conscience and political prisoners before National Day?"

At the end of its statement, Al-Wefaq explained that this was only a brief presentation confirming the presence of political prisoners in Bahrain, asking "how can a human rights institution deny all these facts?"

Arabic Version