MANAMA, 26 April 2003 — More than 15 Bahraini prisoners have been on hunger strike for several days to demand better jail conditions, human rights groups said here yesterday.
Local media confirmed the report by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) and said the prisoners had been taken to Manama hospitals Thursday for emergency treatment and returned yesterday to Jaw prison south of the capital.
The two groups said they had been trying to gain permission from the Interior Ministry to visit the prison.
The BCHR said it had sent a letter Tuesday to Interior Under Secretary Lt. Gen. Shaikh Daij Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa requesting him to grant permission to visit Jaw Prison but had not received a reply.
