The Human Rights Forum revealed a shocking human rights report on violations against children in Bahrain, which exceeded 655 violations during the last three years.
On International Children’s Day, the Bahrain Forum for Human Rights published statistics showing some of the massive violations committed by the authorities against children for political reasons during the period from the beginning of 2018 to the end of the sixth month of 2021.
An official from the Bahrain Forum for Human Rights said that during the last year and a half, from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, the number of security summons for children reached 15 cases.
The official revealed that more than 655 violations against children were recorded in the Forum report.
These violations were distributed as follows: 15 summonses, 51 cases of enforced disappearance, 322 arrests, 93 cases of arbitrary sentences, 87 cases of violations in prisons. These cases are distributed as follows:
- 8 cases of torture
- 57 cases of ill-treatment
- 7 cases of treatment denial
- 5 cases of education deprivation
It is noteworthy that young political detainees in Dry Dock Prison are currently on a hunger strike to protest the poor conditions inside the prison, especially the inhumane treatment and health neglect of sick prisoners.
Shocking and grave violations
The report revealed shocking documents and data of grave violations against Bahraini children. Many of the detained children are held in the notorious Dry Dock prison on charges of terrorism and incitement to overthrow the regime.
Abdullah Rashid is one of many Bahraini children subjected to the worst types of physical and psychological torture. He is being treated as an adult, where he experiences arbitrary arrests, torture and medical neglect in prisons and detention centres.
Aljazeera investigative documentary, Zero Distance, revealed that the authorities imprisoned Rashid for refusing an officer’s offer to release his jailed brother in exchange for spying on demonstrators.
A human rights source told the program team that the child was subjected to threats from the security authorities if he refused to cooperate with them. Indeed, they arrested him later and placed him in the Dry Dock Prison for detained children under 18.
On July 28, 2020, the Fourth High Criminal Court in Manama sentenced Rashid and others to 3 years in prison on charges of joining a terrorist group based on investigations by the police and the Public Prosecution.
