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is currently holding six young boys, aged between 14 and 15,Ìýdenying them family visits and providing no written justification for their detention, according to .Ìý

The have been held for weeks in a "child welfare facility", and requests to have their parents present during interrogations have been denied by the authorities.

"The treatment of these boys is a test of Bahrain's respect for , and so far the authorities are failing," saidÌýBill Van Esveld, Human Rights WatchÌýChildren's Rights associate director.

The boys are from the Sitra area, , and were being held at theÌýBeit BatelcoÌýfacility in Seef district on the orders of the public prosecutor'sÌýoffice.

The government describes the facility as an "institution … for children of unknown parentage, orphans and children of broken families up to the age of 15", according to Human Rights Watch.

"Last year Bahrain touted its legal reforms for children, but locking up children in an orphanage instead of a jail is hardly an improvement when their detention is arbitrary in the first place," Esveld said.

... as if it's fine to lock kids up, during a pandemic, so long as you have a nice-sounding child law?
The reality is "he's a detainee, the doors are shut on him," one boy's father said.
The boys have a hearing tomorrow, 9 Feb. & call for their release
3/3

— billvanesveld (@billvanesveld)

In 2021, Bahrain introduced the , which set the minimum age for criminal responsibility to 15, but also set out measures to "place the child in a social welfare institution".

The boys'Ìýdetention is believed to be related an incident from December 2020 or January 2021.Ìý

A statement issued by the Office of the Public Prosecution accused the boys of "throwing Molotov cocktails" and "damaging a vehicle" near a police station.Ìý

The boy's parents described how they were first contacted in June 2021, and told to bring their children to the police stations.Ìý

"We received a call from Sitra police station to bring them, and then from there they took them to the Office of the Public Prosecutor without letting me go with them," one of the boy’s relatives told Human Rights Watch.Ìý

"I was never allowed to be present in the interrogations. They said I needed to have permission from the prosecutor. We didn’t even know what the [alleged] crimes were."Ìý

Some of the boys were questioned as many as eight times andÌýheld overnight at the police station.Ìý

One of the boy’s fathers described how the charges against the children have also changed over time.

"First it was about burning a tire, then it was attacking a police station, and then it was throwing a Molotov cocktail. My son told me that when they asked him a question they screamed at him not to lie," one of the fathers said.

A defence lawyer for the children said they "are accused of obtaining and manufacturing Molotovs, but it is unclear if there is a specific incident attributed to them, or [if] they [are accused of having] used them".

Since the boys were first sent to Beit Batelco their detention period has been renewed on a weekly basis by a prosecutor, in line with Bahraini law. Ìý

"Every time they renew their detentions we feel shocked,"Ìýone family member said in an interview.Ìý

Human rights activists have called on the Bahraini government to end the detention of the boys.Ìý

"The reality is that if the government of Bahrain doesn’t like your children, they can be taken away and locked up and you won’t even be told why,"ÌýSayed Ahmed Alwadaei, advocacy director at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, explained.

"Bahrain'sÌýallies should demand the release of these six boys – even if they'd prefer not to discuss human rights, harming children undermines Bahrain’s stability,"Ìýhe added.Ìý