Local sources told Bahraini Leaks, that the number of cases infected with Coronavirus has risen to 54 among prisoners of conscience in Jaw Central Prison. Detainees in prison confirm that meals have been received intermittently since the virus began spreading among them.
The meals, if attended, are poor and in small quantities, amid cutting off the water and preventing the operation of air conditioners.
On March 23, the prisons of the Bahraini regime witnessed the first injury, amid severe overcrowding in the prisons. Human rights organizations warned that the outbreak of the virus in prisons will expose detainees and employees to imminent danger.
More than 60 political prisoners over the age of sixty are seriously threatened with the frightening outbreak of the virus in prisons. The regime authorities kept these people in their prisons despite the release of 1,486 detainees following the arrival of the Corona pandemic to Bahrain in March 2020.
Detainees over sixty years of age suffer from health problems and chronic diseases, which could pose a serious threat to their lives.
Human rights organizations warned that the outbreak of the virus in prisons will expose detainees and employees to imminent danger. In addition, prisoners of conscience are languishing in very overcrowded cells and wards.
It was confirmed that four of the aforementioned injured were in a ward containing more than 150 detainees of conscience. It is ward No. 2 in Building No. 21 in Jaw Central Prison.
Two Bahraini human rights organizations indicated that the release of prisoners in light of the Corona pandemic is less and slower than it should be. 677 cases of release of political prisoners have been recorded since March 2020, among whom many have finished their sentences.
The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights and Peace Organization for Democracy and Human Rights pointed out the most severe forms of torture and ill-treatment that have been observed in prisons in recent years. They documented 776 cases of violations of the right to receive appropriate and necessary treatment were monitored from January 2018 to March 15, 2021.
In previous cases, the deterioration of prison conditions raised many complaints and led to many protests demanding prison administrations to meet minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. The most prominent of these protests were unrest at Dry Dock Prison in 2013, and the unrest at Jaw Central Prison in 2015.
