DUBAI: Bahrain is to hold by-elections in September to replace Shiite opposition MPs who resigned in February in protest against a crackdown on anti-government protests, state media said Wednesday.
Voters will go to the polls on Sept. 24, and a runoff will be held if necessary on Oct. 1, the official BNA news agency quoted Justice Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa as saying.
In March, the 40-member Parliament in March accepted the resignation of 11 out of 18 MPs from the main Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, who walked out in February, shortly after a month-long protest began.
Separately, a U.S-based rights group said that Bahrain should suspend prosecution of civilians in military courts and set up an impartial commission to look into allegations of torture during the clampdown on those involved in street protests.
Human Rights Watch said Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a prominent rights activist who appeared before a special military-style court on May 8, a month after he was arrested, bore visible signs of ill-treatment and perhaps torture.
“It appears that Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s jailers tortured him during the month they held him in incommunicado detention,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director for the New York-based group.
Government officials were not immediately available to comment.
In March, Bahrain, where the Sunni king rules over a Shiite majority, crushed weeks of street protests calling for greater political freedoms, a constitutional monarchy and an end to sectarian discrimination.
Hundreds have been arrested and dozens put on trial in special courts. Others have been fired from government jobs. A state of emergency is due to be lifted on June 1.
Human Rights Watch said Khawaja, who it said was maltreated, was among a group of opposition activists charged with attempting to topple the government “in collaboration with a terrorist organization working for a foreign country.”
The government denies there is torture in Bahrain and officials say all such accusations will be investigated.
Human Rights Watch called on Bahrain to allow defendants full access to lawyers, family members and necessary medical care. It said Khawaja’s wife and daughter saw him for the first time since his arrest after the court session.
The trial is due to resume Thursday after being adjourned to allow defense lawyers to meet with clients and in some cases to appoint lawyers.
At least 29 people, all but six of them Shiites, have been killed since the protests started in February.
The six non-Shiites killed included two foreigners – an Indian and a Bangladeshi – and four policemen.
In addition, Bahrain’s oil company has fired almost 300 employees in recent weeks for taking part in anti-government protests and general strikes, according to the Gulf kingdom’s energy minister.
Abdulhussain bin Ali Mirza, who also serves as the chief executive of the state-owned Bahrain Petroleum Company, said that 293 employees have been dismissed since the king declared martial law on March 15 to quell weeks of demonstrations.
Fifty employees were also suspended pending investigations by authorities, and 11 board members of the workers union were referred to the general prosecutor, Mirza told lawmakers Tuesday.