MANAMA (Dispatches) – Bahraini people have rallied again near the capital Manama, demanding “immediate” release of hundreds of prisoners of conscience, whom the ruling regime has been holding in custody for years on end.
The demonstration took place in the village of Sanabis on Sunday as announced on the Twitter account of the country’s main opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society.
The page published pictures of the rally showing the participants holding up placards in support of the prisoners, including Abduljalil Abdulla al-Singace. The 59-year-old, who is incarcerated for protesting the ruling authorities’ policies, has been on a hunger strike for more than 130 days.
Also on Sunday, al-Wefaq noted, the security forces laid Ali al-Muhanna, another political activist and civil libertarian under arrest. Muhanna’s arrest came on the heels of his systematic targeting and abuse by the authorities.
Demonstrations have been held in Bahrain on a regular basis ever since a popular uprising began in mid-February 2011.
The participants demand that the ruling Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
Manama, however, has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent.
On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to the imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.
King Hamad ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3, 2017.
The government-sanctioned suppression campaign has also led to scores of deaths and hundreds of arrests.