Fate of 200 Bahrainis Abducted by Al Khalifa Forces Remains Unclear: BCHR
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – About 200 Bahraini citizens have been abducted by the Manama regime over the past year on political grounds and their fate remains unknown, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) announced.
In a statement issued on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the BCHR announced that 241 arrests have been made in Bahrain over the past year.
It said some 200 of them, about 95%, have been abducted by security forces.
The BCHR said it has collected the data about the arrests in cooperation with the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) since November 2014 and will continue the work until January 2016, according to the Manama Post, an Arabic-language news website.
The United Nations (UN) observes the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30 each year.
Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with Manama using heavy-handed measures in an attempt to crush the demonstrations.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
Bahraini opposition groups have unanimously called for the release of all the political dissidents who have been imprisoned, stressing that only a political solution, and not the use of force, would end the political crisis in the Persian Gulf state.
