European Parliament Calling to Apply Magnisky Act against Bahrain

A petition signed by 19 deputies in the British House of Commons called upon the UK to publicly condemn the mistreatment of children in Bahrain and to apply the Magnisky Act against implicated officials.

The signatories criticized the human rights violations against 13 detained children in Bahrain; four detainees were convicted on 11 March 2021 after being tried as adults and two children were detained for protesting against the November 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.

The motion reminds Bahrain that the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits detaining children in all but the most exceptional of circumstances.

The European Parliament had called on Bahrain to stop the death penalty and to review all death sentences to ensure that the Kingdom respects international standards and provides redress for victims of human rights violations.

The move coincides with a popular movement in Bahrain calling for the release of political prisoners, especially after cases of Coronavirus were recorded and dozens of prisoners were subjected to torture because of their protest against ill-treatment in the Jaw Central Prison.

Rights groups including Amnesty International have criticised the Bahrain’s lack of an independent judiciary and accused its security forces of committing torture and other forms of ill-treatment with impunity.