Once again the government of Bahrain denies political activists and human rights defenders the right to temporary release on humanitarian grounds for the funeral of a close relative. Prominent human rights defender Abdulhadi and political activist Salah Al-Khawaja were prevented from attending the funeral of their eldest brother Abdulaziz, who passed away in Bahrain on April 22.
It is important to note that Abdulhadi is serving a life sentence due to his human rights work and Salah is serving five years for his political activism; both are prisoners of conscience and torture survivors.
The government of Bahrain not only punishes activists by stripping them of their freedom, but also by denying them basic humanitarian rights such as the participation in the funeral of a close relative. This is not new as Salah Al-Khawaja was also a prisoner of conscience in 1994 when his father passed away and he was denied temporary release at that point as well.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) deplore in the strongest terms this inhumane decision by the Government of Bahrain, adding to its already internationally well-known black record in the field of human rights.