NIHR’s Chairperson: “Healthcare will continue for Inmates of Correction and Rehabilitation Centre and Detention and Arrest Centres
Ms. Maria Khoury, Chairperson of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), stated that the NIHR is closely following up on the implementation of the strict precautionary measures implemented by the General Administration of Correction and Rehabilitation to protect the health and safety of inmates as part of the national efforts to combat the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19). She added that healthcare will continue without stoppage for inmates of the Correction and Rehabilitation Centre and detention and arrest places, where the Ministry of Interior worked on dispatching 11 consultant doctors and specialists in various medical specialties from Salmaniya Medical Complex to the Correction and Rehabilitation Centre, where all cases of inmates in various specialties were examined, and consultant doctors and specialists began their work in the clinic of the Correction and Rehabilitation Centre in Jaw region, as they inspected a total of 743 inmates from June 25 until December 28, 2020.
She pointed out that this matter had a great impact in providing the right to receive treatment on a permanent and continuous basis without interruption, in response to the persistent allegations that healthcare has stopped in the Correction and Rehabilitation Centre. In addition, officials are providing anti-Coronavirus vaccinations to all inmates who wish to
receive them and who meet health conditions, at specific dates and times, regardless of their criminal status.
Ms. Khoury stated that the false allegations about the lack of health care did not prevent the administration of the Centre from taking such measures aimed at providing consultants and specialists to provide treatment to sick inmates, which had a positive impact on their physical and psychological health, stressing the importance of continuing to take positive measures to ensure the right to health and the provision of medical treatment, which must include integrated programs such as providing appropriate meals that include healthy diet, allowing inmates to exercise and giving them periods of sun exposure in the Centre’s yards to comply with International Standards for the Treatment of Inmates.
At the conclusion of her statement, the Chairperson of the NIHR called on all inmates and detainees to benefit from the various medical services provided to them in correction and rehabilitation centres and detention and arrest places, whether when the time comes for them to be presented to consultant doctors and specialists, or when they wish to receive the Coronavirus vaccination, to inform the NIHR immediately of any obstacles preventing them from obtaining those medical services prescribed for them, and to stop listening to incitement messages and false allegations, stressing that all channels of the NIHR are open to receive complaints and provide legal aids, whether through the toll-free hotline (80001144), the NIHR Bahrain smartphone application, or the NIHR website www.nihr.org.bh.
