A crackdown on human rights in Bahrain, including a resumption of executions and suppression of dissent, is likely to spark increased unrest, U.N. rights investigators said on Friday. “Trying to quell protests and criticism by resorting to repression and violence is not only a violation of international human rights law, it also undoubtedly leads to an escalation of tension,” five U.N. investigators said in a statement. People who stood up for human rights were being charged for offences that could result in the death penalty under “repressive legislation” such as the Law of Associations and anti-terrorism laws, they added. Earlier this week a Bahraini human rights group said lawyers for a leading rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, walked out of court after their demand to postpone the trial was rejected by the judge. Bahrain denies any systematic abuse by police or in its prisons and says it is facing violent revolt backed by the Gulf region’s Shi’ite power, Iran, which denies the accusation.

Source: Hindustan Times June 16, 2017 15:33 UTC