Manama regime systematically targeting Shia religious scholars: HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Bahraini regime of systematically targeting religious leaders of the country’s Shia Muslim community and violating the scholars’ right to freedom of expression and gathering.

According to Press TV, in a statement released on Tuesday, the New York-based rights organization said credible local sources estimate that Bahraini authorities have questioned or brought charges against at least 56 religous scholars since June.

“Now that the Bahraini authorities have begun to run out of human rights defenders and political activists to jail, silence, or exile, they are moving on to the Shia Muslim community’s religious leaders,” said Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director.

Stork further noted that Manama seems to be “willfully and recklessly fanning the flames of sectarianism, while simultaneously taking moderate voices out of play” in the tiny Persian Gulf state.

HRW also referred to the cases of several Bahraini religious leaders who have been targeted in the government’s heavy-handed crackdown, among them Sheikh Ali Humaidan, Sheikh Isa Qassim, Sheikh Ali Salman and Sheikh Maytham al-Salman.

SS