NGO slams Bahrain for holding activist in detention

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) On Saturday, the US-based Human Rights First organization criticized the detention of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab.“It’s depressing but no big surprise that Nabeel Rajab was not released. Recent weeks have seen an increased targeting of human rights defenders by the authorities and freeing him would have gone against that trend,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley.“It could have been a big day not only for Nabeel and his family, but also for Bahrain. It’s a wasted chance by the authorities not to release him. He shouldn’t have been jailed in the first place, and is only in prison for the peaceful expression of his views against the government,” Dooley added.In a statement published on Wednesday, rights group Amnesty International said the Al Khalifa regime “must immediately release” the prominent activist, who is the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR).Amnesty said at the time that the activist would have served “three quarters of his two year sentence and will become legally eligible for release,” on November 29.Nabeel has been under the regime’s custody in Jaw prison in eastern Bahrain since July 9, 2012.Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters.According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have "evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police" in the crackdown on anti-government protesters. /149