Speaking at a routine government news conference, foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said it was 'important' for Bahrain to comply with human right standards, including press freedom, freedom of opinion and the right to demonstrate.
Berlin's refusal to openly condemn massive human rights abuses committed by the Bahraini security forces while condemning such abuses in Libya and Yemen has undermined any credibility it had with Bahrainis.
Human right groups have time and again complained that the West has been publicly mum amid reports that Bahrain's Sunni-led government is waging a violent and bloody crackdown — destroying Shia mosques, illegally detaining and torturing dissidents, attacking medical personnel to prevent them from treating wounded protesters, abusing women and girls, and expelling journalists from the country.
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