(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - “What is happening in Bahrain is very brutal and it is not getting any better,” Asma Darwish said in an interview with Press TV on Friday.
Darwish, who has just ended a hunger strike in protest at the rights violations in prisons against political prisoners, said that she along with other Bahraini activists have submitted a report about cases of rights abuse in Bahrain to UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
“A lot of doctors are being fired or jailed, a lot of students are being expelled from universities…for being involved in social networking activities,” Darwish pointed out. “We want all the political prisoners to be freed. We want the regime to stop torturing in prisons,” she reiterated.
Since mid-February, thousands of anti-government demonstrators in Bahrain have staged regular protests in the streets, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.
In mid-March, Saudi-led forces were dispatched to the Persian Gulf island upon Manama's request to help quell the nationwide protests.
According to local sources, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested so far during the government's Saudi-backed clampdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
Meanwhile, Bahraini security forces have reportedly kidnapped a number of women, including doctors, university professors and students.
Human rights groups and the families of protesters arrested during the crackdown say that most detainees have been physically and mentally abused and that the whereabouts of many of them remain unknown.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized the Bahraini regime for its brutal crackdown on civilians.
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