Amnesty urges Prince Charles to highlight Bahrain’s human rights record

Amnesty International has urged Britain’s Prince Charles to highlight the plight of Bahrainis campaigning for basic human rights during his tour of the Arabian Gulf.

Human rights activists across the globe have been on the forefront of criticising Bahrain for its clampdown on basic freedoms and human rights, following protests that began in 2011. The plight of one activist, who is set to face a lengthy prison sentence due to him speaking out against the torture of detainees in Bahrain, Nabeel Rajab, was also highlighted by Amnesty.

“We’re not expecting Prince Charles to reinvent himself as a human rights campaigner on this trip, but we hope he’ll use some of his time to speak about universal values like free speech and open debate,” Amnesty International UK’s head of policy and government affairs Allan Hogarth said.

“His short visit isn’t going to reverse the downward spiral in Bahrain, but he may wish to offer a few well-chosen words of advice to his royal counterparts over how jailing peaceful critics is not the way forward for Bahrain.”

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla landed in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday evening to start their tour of the Gulf countries. From Muscat they went on to the UAE and are now in Bahrain.