© www.presstv.irTwo Bahraini children arrested February 14, 2015. Do they look like terrorists to you?
At least 250 children are behind bars on political grounds in Bahrain which is facing almost daily protests for years now, a report says. According to a report by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights released on Wednesday,
the incarcerations violate Article 16 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under the provision, no child should be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy, family, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on their honor and reputation, it said.
The center also called on the Bahraini regime to stop detention and interrogation of children on terrorism charges. On Tuesday, a court in Bahrain
sentenced a 17-year-old boy to an additional 10 years in prison over alleged acts of terror. Ahmad al-Arab had earlier been sentenced to 120 years in jail. The ruling was the latest in a series of harsh punishments handed down to dissidents in Bahrain, a tiny Persian Gulf island nation that has been hit by anti-regime protests for years.
Many human rights groups have criticized the Bahraini judiciary for handing down long jail terms to protesters and activists. Amnesty International and other rights groups have also censured the regime over
"rampant" human rights abuses. Bahraini protesters rallied in the northern village of Abu Saiba Tuesday, calling on officials to heed calls by UN and human rights organizations to release all political prisoners.
Comment: According to
Humanitarium, an international organization dedicated to stopping violations of children's rights, Bahraini children -- arrested and sent to prison for participating in demonstrations -- are detained with adults and parents are deprived access.
Human Rights Watch confirms accounts of torture, harassment, incarceration, false arrest, coerced confessions, inhumane treatment and denial of legal counsel and representation for arrested children.
US Department of Labor cites Bahrain as having some of the worst forms of child labor, including commercial sexual exploitation. The Bahraini government has made little effort to rectify these atrocities.
Comment: Also see: The U.S. is at the epicenter of a worldwide economic meltdown