“Bahrain should end its campaign of arrests of doctors and human rights activists,” HRW said in a statement released on Monday.
The human rights group said that “masked” security forces detained several doctors and rights activists on March 19-20.
After a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters on Wednesday, the Bahraini regime widened pressure on political and human rights advocates as well as doctors and social workers under the pretext of an emergency rule declared by Bahrain's rulers.
More than 13 people have been killed and about 1,000 injured since the start of the anti-government protests demanding the ouster of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa from the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom in mid-February.
Human Rights Watch also voiced concern “about the whereabouts of those doctors and rights advocates still in detention.”
“The arrests, some of which occurred during pre-dawn hours, appear part of a broader government crackdown involving nighttime raids on the homes of those viewed as supporting pro-democracy protesters,” HRW said.
"Nighttime raids by masked men accompanied by uniformed security personnel have become disturbingly familiar in Bahrain," said Joe Stork, deputy director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa division.
"The state is now unabashedly terrorizing anyone including doctors who dared to support pro-democracy protesters during the past several weeks," he said.
The prominent rights organization also announced that Bahraini security forces arrested four anti-government doctors on March 19.
“The recent arrests appear part of a broader government crackdown,” it added.
The HRW added that many opposition political activists and local rights defenders “have slept away from their homes or gone into hiding to avoid arrest or harassment.”
It added that several political and human rights activists have been threatened with death on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites.
"Bahrain is rapidly reverting to the police state of the 1990s," said Stork. "The authorities should stop arresting rights activists and doctors who speak out against abuses, and release all those improperly detained."
On Sunday, Human Rights Watch also said that Bahraini security forces refused to let injured people reach the country's largest hospital on March 16 and interfered with medical services at other facilities as well.
“Security forces prevented ambulances transporting injured people from reaching the hospitals,” it added.
“There can be no justification for denying critical medical care,” said Stork.
“King Hamad, as the commander of Bahrain's army, bears responsibility for this flagrant violation of the right to health and potentially the right to life.”
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