Cairo: A Bahraini human rights group has refuted claims of a strike in a major prison after a team from the watchdog visited the site.
Social media has recently reported an alleged strike by inmates inside the Jaw Central Prison purportedly due to stopping them from religious practices as well as lack of medical treatment and cleanliness in the place.
A team from the National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR) visited the prison where they met a number of inmates. “It was obvious that they were not subjected to any abuses, maltreatment or deprivation of rights,” the group said in a statement.
The NIHR quoted some prisoners as voicing satisfaction with the standards of services and facilities offered to them for continued practice of their religious rituals.
The NIHR team also contacted skin specialists at a medical centre in charge of treating prisoners. They said that prisoners are regularly examined and get appropriate medication, noting that there are no skin cases such as scabies among prisoners.
The prisoners, said the NIHR, hailed precautionary measures adopted to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in the place. According to the prison reports, necessary procedures have been taken in recent weeks to allow 925 inmates to see doctors either at the Jaw clinic or via online medical consultancy service.
The NIHR said it would continue its field visits of reform and rehabilitation centres in the kingdom to ensure respect for rights in health, cultural and religious fields.
The group urged other rights advocates to avoid circulating “misleading” reports about alleged abuses.
“The institute expresses sorrow that some organisations and agencies, claiming to defend human rights, publish misleading media statements, which themselves are considered a violation of human rights and run counter to realities without any evidence, objectivity and credibility,” the NIHR added.
