Bahrain Mirror: Brian Dooley, senior advisor at Human Rights First, said that Bahrain is lurching into another crisis as hundreds of prisoners protest about the lack of adequate medical care since August 7, 2023.

"The current crisis could have been easily avoided - if Bahrain's government had shown an iota of wisdom, it would have released those unjustly jailed years ago, and given all those who need medical treatment adequate care," Dooley said in an article published on the organization's website.

One recently released prisoner said "This frustration in the prison has to go somewhere, it's been building for so long. The situation is getting worse every day with more and more prisoners joining the protest."

"The US, which supports Bahrain, realizes that things are developing dangerously, threatening Bahrain's fragile stability. Some members of Congress, and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, have this week publicly addressed the mounting crisis," he noted.

Even the State Department, normally reluctant to criticize its dictator allies in the region, responded to a reporter's question with some degree of concern. Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Manama has yet to say anything public about what's happening on its doorstep, and is busy tweeting pictures of Bahrain's king with U.S. officials.

Dooley warned that "if any of the hundreds of prisoners on the hunger protest die, the consequences of Bahrain's failure to resolve the crisis could be catastrophic."

He called on the Bahraini authorities "to act fast to prevent a similar outcome to 2015."

Dooley called on "the Biden administration to call for the release of Bahrain's jailed human rights defenders and ensure they and the other prisoners have access to the medical treatment they need before it's too late."

Arabic Version