Bahrain Mirror: Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain demanded the Bahraini authorities to stop subjecting young convicts to ongoing violations, including forced detention and torture, and to put and end to impunity policy.

ADHRB stated "On 17 September 2023, approximately 28 young Bahraini detainees began a hunger strike in protest against the continued violations committed against them by the prison administration," noting that the most dangerous "violations young convicts are exposed to is medical negligence, which is one of the most basic demands over which they launched hunger strikes."

"Young convicts demand the most basic humanitarian rights; however, the prison administration ignores their demands, which include: right to treatment, medical care and family visits as well as their retrial according to Law on Restorative Justice," it added.

It shed the light on "lack of transparency in the Ministry of Interior's data, as there are no accurate statistics on the number of detained children. However, investigative reports have previously revealed that Bahrain detains about 150 children. Despite these reports, the Bahraini government claims that it has no children in detention, stating that those arrested from the age group of 15 to 18 years are serving their sentence in a private reform center."

"Since its passage, the Law on Restorative Justice for Children and their Protection from Mistreatment has been subjected to numerous criticisms, as the government of Bahrain exploits its promulgation to promote the reforms that it has carried out. Unfortunately, its application is still limited to a very small number of young convicts and its failure to guarantee children's fundamental rights to due process."

"By exposing young convicts to violations, including forced detention, torture, denial of medical care, and of the right to education, Bahrain is violating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Nelson Mandela Rules."

The organization stressed the need that Bahrain protects young convicts from mistreatment, respond to their demands, not renounce the promises made to them. It also urged Bahrain to "retry young convicts in accordance with the fair trial procedures that apply to children in order to obtain their immediate and unconditional release, guarantee all their civil rights, and compensate them."

Arabic Version