Prisoners had launched a mass hunger strike 36 days ago to protest against restrictive measures and rights violations such as solitary confinement, restrictions on visiting rights, and poor health facilities. Reports say over 800 prisoners were part of the protests

This is the largest ever hunger strike in the country’s history and is being supported by common Bahrainis who have been staging protests in solidarity with the striking prisoners

The strike was launched at the Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Center, which is mainly used to imprison government critics, dissidents, human rights activists and pro-democracy campaigners

Bahrain, ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty, is one of the closest allies of the US in the Persian Gulf region. It hosts the Fifth Fleet of the US Navy since 1995 and has developed close relations with Israel despite popular opposition 

Going against their long-term commitment to the Palestinian cause formalized through the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, Bahrain and the UAE signed normalization deals with Israel in 2020. Morocco also signed a similar deal

The open letter urges Western governments with close ties to Bahrain to demand the release of prominent activist-academic Dr. Abduljalil al-Singace and other political prisoners. It also calls for improving the general human rights situation in the Gulf monarchy

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is serving the tenth year of his life sentence after his conviction on charges including “organizing and managing a terrorist organization,” which human rights groups have slammed as unfair and oppressive

The demonstrators expressed strong opposition to the normalization deal signed between Bahrain and Israel last year, denouncing the regime’s actions as treasonous and an abandonment of the Palestinian cause

Canada-based Citizen Lab stated that it has verified the numbers with Paris-based Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, organisations responsible for last month’s global media coverage which implicated dozens of governments across the world for using the spyware

Protests took place for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday demanding the release of prisoners from overcrowded jails. Protesters also condemned the blackout of news regarding the number of COVID-19 cases in the facilities

In a letter addressed to US secretary of state Antony Blinken, the 15 signatory organizations ask the US to restrict arms sales to the Gulf monarchy. Bahrain recently recognized Israel as part of the Abraham accords

Scores of Bahrainis took to the streets on Sunday marking the tenth anniversary of the anti-government Arab Spring protests. The protests of 2011 were suppressed by the ruling al-Khalifa family with the aid of Saudi Arabia and other monarchies