Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement by the government of Bahrain on 12 March that it will release 1,486 detainees for “humanitarian reasons, in the backdrop of current circumstances” and the statement by Human Rights Watch on 23 March which notes that “Bahraini authorities have not released any prominent political leaders or human rights defenders”, what representations they have made to that government about the release of political prisoners in Bahrain including Nabeel Rajab, Hassan Mushaima and Abduljalil al-Singace, who suffer from compromised health conditions.

We welcome news of a royal pardon for 901 Bahraini prisoners and the conversion to alternative sentencing of a further 585 individuals' sentences. We have previously raised the cases of Sayed Nizar Al Wadaei, Hassan Mushaima, Abduljalil al-Singace and Nabeel Rajab at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain, including health concerns. We continue to monitor these cases.