Hundreds of minor students in Bahrain jails: Al-Wefaq

Bahrain’s main opposition group says hundreds of minor students remain incarcerated in the jails of Al Khalifa regime amid an increasing crackdown on dissent.

The al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said on Sunday that more than 200 students under the age of 18 are still in Manama regime’s jails and are deprived of their right to education.

The group added that the number has doubled since the beginning of the school year in 2013.

Al-Wefaq further noted that the youngest prisoner is 11 years old.

An earlier report by the group also said more than 7,300 people have been arrested since last year.

It lists rights violations related to arbitrary detention, judicial prosecution of activists, torture and degrading treatment as well as unnecessary use of force. The report also refers to demolition of religious structures and restrictions on religious freedoms.

Bahrain has been the scene of anti-regime demonstrations against the Al Khalifa regime since February 2011.

Manama’s heavy-handed crackdown on dissent has left scores of people dead and hundreds of others injured since the beginning of the uprising.

Over the past years, Bahrain’s human rights record has come under scrutiny over its handling of the anti-regime demonstrations across the country. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have repeatedly urged the Bahraini regime to free protesters and other activists.