Bahrain Mirror: Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the U.S. House of Representatives, Jim McGovern, said "the decision to deny Maryam Al-Khawaja and others entry and cancel the visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights delegation contradicts everything Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani said about Bahrain's commitment to human rights when we met."

McGovern demanded Bahrain to release human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who has been arbitrarily detained for 12 long years, solely for the peaceful exercise of his human rights.

McGovern's remarks came three days after he met Al-Zayani in Washington, on the sidelines of a visit by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to sign a security-economic-strategic agreement with the US administration.

Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said at the time that Al-Zayani and his accompanying delegation discussed during the meeting "the protection and promotion of human rights, combating trafficking in persons, and consecrating the values of tolerance, human coexistence and religious freedoms."

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission has criticized the poor conditions in Bahrain's prisons, which have driven hundreds of detainees to hunger strike, and called on the Bahraini authorities to improve prison conditions.

Arabic Version