In Bahrain, arrests of relatives of political prisoners and a warning of an increase in Corona injuries among the detainees

The Bahraini authorities have arrested a number of family members of prominent political prisoners in Bahrain due to their participation in a peaceful demonstration calling for the release of their relatives, including the detainee Muhammad al-Dakkak and the death row prisoner Muhammad Ramadan, according to a statement by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in the two seas.

The source explained that the authorities summoned Jaafar Ramadan and Ramadan Issa for questioning on April 6, after organizing a small protest to demand the release of Muhammad Ramadan.

After their provisional release that day, the two men were summoned to the "Samaheej" police station in the early hours of Friday, on charges related to illegal gathering.

The statement stated that the unauthorized gatherings of more than 5 people are illegal under Bahraini law, and this was considered a violation of Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Bahraini Public Prosecution recently said that the maximum penalty for unauthorized gatherings has been raised to 3 years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Bahraini dinars (more than 13,000 dollars), as part of the measures taken to confront the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, Amnesty International announced an increase in cases of Coronavirus among detainees in Jau Central Prison in Bahrain.

The organization said that the outbreak of the Corona virus in the prison in recent weeks is "a stark evidence of the Bahraini authorities' failure to respect the minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners and ensure the rights of detainees to health."

The organization added that the testimony of prisoners' families that there are dozens of cases of corona among the detainees "paints a grim picture of poor detention conditions due to overcrowding in prisons, which casts doubts on the recent government's claims that the outbreak is under control."

The organization called on the Bahraini government not to gamble with the detainees 'lives, and to guarantee the detainees' right to health and protect them from the risk of infection.