Bahrain Mirror: The Bahraini government has deprived prominent human rights activists Abdulhadi and Salah Al-Khawaja, who are serving long prison terms, of attending their brother's funeral and mourning ceremony, as the authorities refused to grant them temporary release.

In their statement, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) stressed that "once again the government of Bahrain denies political activists and human rights defenders the right to temporary release on humanitarian grounds for the funeral of a close relative."

"It is important to note that Abdulhadi is serving a life imprisonment because of his human rights activism and Salah is serving five-year sentence in prison due to his political activities, and they are both prisoners of conscience and survivors of torture," the GCHR also stated.

"Not only does the government of Bahrain punish activists by stripping them of their freedom, but also by denying them basic humanitarian rights such as attending a funeral. This; however, is not new as Salah Al-Khawaja was also a prisoner of conscience in 1994. When his father passed away, he was denied temporary release at that time as well," the GCHR added.

Alongside the GCHR, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) denounced, in the strongest terms, this "inhumane action" committed by the Bahraini government, which will be added to its already notorious human rights record.

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