In mid-March King Al Khalifa of Bahrain ordered, via decree, the liberation of 901 prisoners so as to control the spread of Covid-19. Prison sentences for 585 other prisoners will be changed to rehabilitation and reformation programmes. Bahrain is notorious for imprisoning large numbers of foreign workers, who at one time reportedly made up some 30 percent of the country’s prison population. However, the GDP has not obtained any information regarding measures taken to safeguard immigration detainees in the country.
- A. Zaman, “Bahrain Pardons Hundreds of Prisoners as Coronavirus Fears Spread,” Al-Monitor, 13 March 2020, www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/bahrain-pardon-prisoners-coronavirus-formula-one.html
- Global Detention Project, “Immigration Detention in Bahrain,” https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/middle-east/bahrain
