Amnesty International (AI) has urged Bahraini authorities to launch an impartial probe into the death of a boy shot dead at a demonstration earlier this week.
In a statement issued on its website on Friday, the rights group said the regime must ensure accountability in the death of 14-year-old Seyed Mahmood Seyed Mohsen, who was killed at the demonstration in the village of Sitra, south of the capital Manama, on Wednesday.
Bahrain is facing international pressure over the killing of the teenage protester.
Amnesty has also called on Manama to launch a prompt investigation into all cases of torture, ill-treatment and deaths that occurred during protests and in custody.
The group criticized Bahrain for the lack of transparency in investigations into deaths at protests.
It charged Manama with whitewashing the cases in which the security forces were accused of killing protesters.
Amnesty has also accused Bahrain of using disproportionate force against protesters.
In another statement issued on May 19, it voiced concerns over the lack of reform of the judiciary in the Persian Gulf kingdom amid Al Khalifa regime’s ongoing crackdown on dissent.
The group criticized the country for “slow and inadequate investigations” into past human rights abuses and “continuing restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly.”
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations on the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa 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 peaceful protesters.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.
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