"The death of Ali Issa Saqer and Zakaraya Rashed Hassan in the hands of the Bahraini police is unacceptable. I am deeply concerned by concurrent reports of several human rights organizations that both activists had been tortured in prison and might have been killed,” Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European Parliament, said in a Tuesday statement.
“I firmly condemn these abuses against peaceful protesters,” he noted.
Buzek made a reference to the detention of more than 400 human rights activists, bloggers and opposition supporters in crisis-hit Bahrain, saying such methods will fail to pacify the situation in the Middle Eastern country.
On the contrary, such reactions will further alienate the authorities from the people, the statement read. “The heavy hand of the government undermines all hopes for national dialogue.”
The head of the European Parliament called for “a credible investigation into the recent deaths and all violations of human rights.”
Since mid-February, thousands of anti-government protesters in Bahrain have poured into the streets, calling for an end to al-Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled the country for almost 40 years.
On March 13, Saudi-led forces were dispatched to the Persian Gulf island at Manama's request to quell the countrywide protests.
According to local sources, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested so far during the government clampdown on the peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain.