Friday, December 20, 2013

NGOs censure Bahrain for torturing journalists

Ten international human rights groups have sent a letter to the United Nations, denouncing the arrest and torture of Bahraini journalists by the Al Khalifa regime.
The letter, which had been signed by the Media Legal Defense Initiative and the International Federation for Human Rights, among other rights groups, was sent to UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression Frank La Rue, and UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Méndez on Friday.
The rights groups called for a probe into the arrest, detention and capture of three Bahraini journalists Mohamed Hassan, Hussain Hubail and Qassim Zain al-Deen.
The three have been in the regime’s custody since August and face trial on charges related to their coverage of the anti-regime demonstrations across the Persian Gulf kingdom.
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on peaceful protesters.
According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.
Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have "evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police" in the crackdown on anti-government protesters.

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