Bahrain Mirror: Human rights activist Ibtisam Al-Saegh said that the prisons in Bahrain are selling blankets, bed sheets and pillows to prisoners, which violates their fundamental rights.

She said "The basic principles for the Treatment of Prisoners issued by the General Assembly stipulates that all prisoners shall be treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings without discrimination."

"All prisoners shall be provided with means to receive health services, daily life items like pillows and blankets and others. They should be also changes in case they are damaged or have been used for long period of time," she added.

Al-Saegh went on to say "What's happening in Jaw prison is a new kind of blackmail (...) since Wednesday (August 17, 2018) Jaw Prison administration showed some items to sell and set the prices: Blanket for 4500 BD, bed sheet for 3000 BD and pillow for 16000 BD."

She further stated "until now there hasn't been any pillow among the items set for sale, although several prisoners have been demanding pillows for weeks, which made some of them make their own pillows from their clothes. Families have filed complaints to the Ombudsman, demanding them to provide prisoners with pillows or allow their access."

Activist Ibtisam Al-Saegh commented "today, the administration has found the solution which is to sell prisoners who started to pay their calls as well as their hygiene supplies, until they started to pay for their sleep as well. That's why it called 5-star prison."

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