Families of Bahraini political prisoners threatened, prevented from seeing Pope

Bahrain’s security forces have threatened the families of political prisoners with arrest and prevented them from seeing Pope Francis, in an attempt to blackout one of the most controversial topics of human rights in the tiny Persian Gulf state.

The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society published a video via its Twitter account, showing the families of freedom of speech prisoners and victims of torture in Bahraini prisons, as well as those sentenced to death by the Bahraini regime as they were trying to meet Pope Francis on Saturday.

Nevertheless, their attempt was unsuccessful as they were prevented to do so by the police. Activists said the protesters were taken away from the protest site in a police vehicle and later released.

The video of Saturday’s protest, which included several women and children, was also posted online by the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).

Hajer Mansoor, the mother of jailed activist Sayed Nizar al-Wadaei, held a placard reading: “Tolerance does not exist for us here in Bahrain.”

The families of jailed dissidents had appealed to Pope Francis to speak out against human rights abuses perpetrated by the ruling Al-Khalifa regime during his upcoming trip to the tiny Persian Gulf country.

The appeal was made in a letter written by the families of 12 prisoners sitting on death row, and released by the BIRD last week.

Late in October, a group of incarcerated Bahraini Shia Muslim clerics urged Pope Francis to condemn the injustice and repressive policies of the ruling Al Khalifah regime and push for reforms in the Persian Gulf kingdom ahead of his visit.

In a statement, the scholars said in Bahrain "the motto of tolerance and coexistence is raised for everyone except for its own people," reminding Pope Francis that he is visiting a country "where justice and charity are widely prescribed; but injustice and aggression are practiced in reality.”

Pope Francis arrived in Manama last Thursday on a four-day visit to participate in the Bahrain conference.

MG