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Bahrain Crackdown: Clerics Mistreated as Dozens Detained

Bahrain Crackdown: Clerics Mistreated as Dozens Detained
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Local Editor

As the Al Khalifa regime escalates it crackdown on dissents, reports of abuse and extremely harsh treatment of Bahraini clerics emerged.

Bahrain Crackdown: Clerics Mistreated as Dozens Detained

The Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, a rights campaigning group based in Britain, published a report on Saturday in which it said that the Bahraini regime had committed a total of 313 cases of rights abuse against Shia clerics since 2011.

The report studied court orders, government decrees and other actions by police and security forces against the clerics between 2011 and 2017, saying clerics in the tiny Gulf kingdom of Bahrain have been subject to various forms of rights violations including death sentences, life imprisonment, citizenship revocation, enforced deportation, arbitrary detention and other harsh prison sentences.

It said the Shia scholars, who have a huge base of public support in Bahrain, have badly suffered from humiliation and physical torture as a result of government treatment.

The report said a total of 156 scholars had been summoned only over the content of their sermons and speeches, which Manama deemed inappropriate. It said Manama's widespread use of arbitrary arrests had affected 89 clerics in the seven-year period, while 50 clerics had received harsh sentences including death penalty, life in prison, citizenship revocation or payment of huge fines. Most of those sentenced have had no access to proper judicial services, it said.

In a related context, 47 people had been detained Sunday by regime forces while charges were being filed against another 290 individuals.

The Al Khalifa regime's interior ministry alleged that the 47 arrested individuals planned attacks across the country - including the killings of officials and public figures.

Bahraini police had also transferred the cases of 290 wanted persons and suspects to the public prosecutor's office, a statement said.

It did not specify the dates of the arrests but said they were part of "one of the most important preventive operations".

Since 2011, Al Khalifa rulers had been embroiled in a brutal crackdown on all dissent, imprisoning or forcing politicians and activists into exile.

They have jailed dozens of high-profile activists and disbanded both religious and secular opposition groups.

According to Amnesty International, Al Khalifa rulers had also stripped hundreds of their citizenship - among whom is prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim - making many stateless.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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