Iranian Cleric Warns UN Chief of Human Rights Situation in Bahrain

The secretary general of the Ahl-ul-Bayt World Assembly, in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, expressed deep concerns over the ongoing violation of human rights in Bahrain and called for efforts to stop the Manama regime’s crackdown on Bahrainis.

“Bahrain currently has the highest number of political prisoners in the region despite it being the smallest and least populous country in the region,” Muhammad Hasan Akhtari said in the letter to Guterres on Sunday.

“Four thousand people have been imprisoned and are being tortured physically and psychologically for protesting the status quo in their country,” the Iranian cleric said.

Copies of the letter have also been sent to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression David Key, and Maina Kiai, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, according to the website of the assembly.