The Bahraini authorities prohibited Shia worshippers from praying at the country's biggest mosque for the Shia sect, Human Rights Watch said Friday in light of another Bahraini crackdown on the majority religious sect.

The Imam Al-Sadeq mosque is in Al-Diraz, and it is the main site at which Bahrain's Shia population holds Friday prayers.

The human rights organization says the restrictions on the mosque were imposed after the Bahraini authorities briefly detained renowned Shia cleric Sheikh Mohammad Sanqoor, who usually gives sermons at the mosque.

Days ahead of his arrest, Sheikh Sanqoor called on the Bahraini authorities to share information with the families of the detainees in Bahrain's Jau prison about the conditions of their children, saying the families had recently learned that the detainees there were being abused.

"While there continued to be a significant police presence in and around Al-Diraz neighborhood and around Imam Al-Sadeq Mosque on Friday, June 23, 2023, restrictions to the neighborhood have since been eased," HRW said.

Sanqoor was arrested after he called on authorities "to reassure the families of prisoners about their loved ones." His words came in response to recent reports of abuse of individuals detained in Jau Prison.

Sanqoor was released following mass protests on May 25 May, though he is yet to return to the mosque since his release.

"Imam al-Sadeq Mosque is the main mosque for the Shi’a community [in Bahrain] and the primary location for Friday prayers. It is where the community discusses its suffering, needs, concerns, social and economic issues, problems in government, and oppression," one of the interviewees who was blocked from entering Al-Diraz neighborhood on June 16 to attend prayers told HRW.

This comes despite the constitution of Bahrain protecting freedom of belief and guaranteeing the freedom to perform religious rites under Article 22. Articles 18 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Bahrain has ratified, protect individuals’ rights to freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression.

Back in April, the Bahraini Wefaq National Islamic Society party said it had registered hundreds of human rights violations by the Manama regime.

In its report,  Al-Wefaq indicated that the most prominent events of the first three months of this year were the campaigns of arbitrary arrests, summons, and raids following the peaceful demonstration commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 2001 popular uprising. 

Read more: Al-Wefaq: Prison conditions endangering lives of political prisoners

On the violations following the demonstration, Al-Wefaq reported:

• 36 cases of arbitrary arrests between February and March (no arrests were reported in January)
• 26 cases of  summons targeting 21 citizens
• 22 arbitrary rulings; 12 by the Supreme Criminal Court of Bahrain, 1 by the Appellate Court, and 3 first-degree cases by unspecified courts. 

On human rights violations against prisoners by the Bahraini prison complex, the report identified: 

• 6 cases in the Jau Central Prison, which is run by the Ministry of Interior
• 1 case in the Dry Dock Detention Center, which is also run by the Ministry of Interior 

Several protests and acts of defiance were also reported from inside the prisons

• 9 cases of hunger strikes in the Jau Central prison
• 1 case of hunger strike in Dry Dock
• 3 cases of protests in Jau

Al-Wefaq also reported that the regime's oppressive measures are being met with a range of peaceful protests: reporting 207 protests in 44 areas mainly in Al  Al-Sumoud Triangle, Al-Sanabis, and Jid Hafs.

Earlier in January, it was reported that the Bahraini regime sentenced 21 protesters to prison which included 3 minors. 

Seven of the defendants were sentenced to life in prison in absentia, while nine others were sentenced to ten years in prison, according to LuaLua television network: specifying that three minors were sentenced to a sentence of three years.