In Bahrain, at least 800 prisoners have been on hunger strike for over three weeks protesting human rights violations and worsening conditions. Prisoners have denounced arbitrary solitary confinement, cell lockdowns of 23 hours a day, and no access to medical care and education. This is the biggest hunger strike led by political prisoners in the Gulf nation’s history, with hundreds of others also taking to the streets in solidarity with the strikers at the Jau Prison, the largest in Bahrain.
Officials have reportedly agreed to increase the duration of visitations and said they’re looking into raising the time prisoners are allowed outdoors. Many of them were arrested, tortured and imprisoned following the 2011 massive uprisings during the Arab Spring.