Report names and shames Bahrain, Saudi, UAE for abuses

A human rights group has documented dozens of cases of gross violations against children’s rights in Bahrain during the first half of this year alone, as the ruling Al Khalifa regime relentlessly continues with a crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners in the country.

The Persian Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights said in a recent report that at least 30 children had been arbitrarily arrested in Bahrain between January and May 2019.

At least six children were subjected to enforced disappearance for a period exceeding two weeks in some cases, it added.

The report also documented numerous violations, ranging between ill-treatment and denial of rights, against 17 detained children.

Arbitrary arrests, imprisonment without trial, torture, and executions are regularly reported in Bahrain.

Forced disappearances are common, and interrogations are reportedly conducted without any legal representative present. 

Protest rallies in Bahrain have been happening almost daily since mid-February 2011, with the population calling on the Al Khalifah family to relinquish power.

Saudi Arabia, UAE denounced over rights abuses

In its report, the Persian Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights pointed to the mass executions that took place in Saudi Arabia in April against more than three dozen men on politically motivated charges.

There are more than 20 other men on death row in Saudi Arabia, three of them having been detained under the age of 18.

The report said that detained female activists were tortured, sexually harassed, ill-treated, and forcibly disappeared because of their activism.

The report also singled out the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for rights violations.

Report raps Saudi-led coalition over Yemen war

In addition, the report also shed light on the extent of the humanitarian disaster in Yemen because of the ongoing war by a Saudi-led coalition.

In July, the Saudi-led coalition was blacklisted by the United Nations for a third year over the killing and wounding of hundreds of children and attacking schools and hospitals.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing a former regime back to power.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed more than 91,000 lives over the past four and a half years.

The war has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

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