VISITS to Bahrain’s central prison could start being rescheduled from next week, according to families who showed up there yesterday demanding access to their relatives.
It follows the cancellation of visits to inmates after clashes with security at Jaw Prison.
Six families showed up at the prison yesterday seeking access to their loved ones, but left three hours later after being denied permission.
However, rights activists say they are still waiting for a response from authorities after demanding access to the prison more than a week ago.
VISITS to Bahrain’s central prison could start being rescheduled from next week, according to families who showed up there yesterday demanding access to their relatives.
It follows the cancellation of visits to inmates after clashes with security at Jaw Prison.
Six families showed up at the prison yesterday seeking access to their loved ones, but left three hours later after being denied permission.
However, rights activists say they are still waiting for a response from authorities after demanding access to the prison more than a week ago.
The government-registered Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) yesterday reiterated its demand for an independent inspection, citing fears over the health of inmates who are said to have launched a hunger strike on July 25.
“We have received 24 complaints from families of inmates and from inside the prison of mistreatment and claims that inmates are being deprived of religious activities,” society secretary general Dr Abdulla Al Derazi told the GDN.
“When the strike was first launched, we sent a letter to Interior Ministry Under-Secretary Brigadier Tariq Bin Daina asking for access into the prison, but we still haven’t received any response.
“In order for the situation not to escalate further, authorities have to urgently allow an independent body to investigate prison conditions, where they should be allowed to meet prison officials, inmates and investigate the claims.”
He also urged authorities to allow the resumption of prison visits by inmates’ families as soon as possible.
“Cancelling visitations sends out a wrong message because people don’t know what is happening inside and there could be psychological effects on the families, who are worried about their children,” said Dr Al Derazi.
“There is a lot of international focus on what is happening inside the prison as we have been contacted by many international organisations interested in the incident.
“Suspending visitations is not the right move at the moment.”
An Interior Ministry official told the GDN on Sunday that the hunger strike had ended.
The ministry previously said prisoners launched the protest to demand access to personal items such as razors, extended exercise time and cell doors to be left open until midnight.
It said police had to use force to bring unruly prisoners under control and described their demands as “illegal”.
The six families who showed up at the prison yesterday refused to leave its reception area until they saw their relatives.
However, they said they gave up after allegedly being told they would be evicted by force.
“First, we were told that the visitations are cancelled because the inmates, who violated certain regulations, are being punished,” said Ali Sarhan, from Ma’ameer, who showed up at the prison for the second time this week to visit his son Isa.
“We demanded to see a top official in order to get some sort of reassurance that our sons are well.
“Our request was completely ignored and officers then told us to leave or they would use force to take us out of the prison, so we left.”
Contact
However, Mr Sarhan added that officials gave them a ray of hope – saying relatives could be contacted next week to schedule visits.
“They told us that we might be contacted next week by prison officials to get the new schedule of visitations,” he said.
“We will stop going to the prison until next week and see what action they will take.
“We are happy with officials for giving us a date on when we can see our loved ones.”
Meanwhile, Mr Sarhan’s wife, Zahra Al Mahdi, said her sole wish was to hear her son’s voice.
“I haven’t heard from him in over 10 days and I don’t know how he is,” she said.
“I keep hearing rumours that some inmates have severe injuries – is my son among them?
“I just want to hear his voice and make sure he is fine.”
Another Bahraini mother, Fakhriya Ahmed, who showed up at the prison to see her 20-year-old son Sadiq said she felt helpless.
“I am extremely worried about my son and what hurts the most is that there is nothing I can do to help him,” she said.
“I just want any news about him just to make sure he is not hurt.”
The Interior Ministry neither confirmed nor denied that prison visits would be resuming yesterday.
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