Amnesty International urged the Bahraini regime to allow peaceful protests after it banned a planned demonstration by the kingdom’s main political bloc

Amnesty International urged the Bahraini regime to allow peaceful protests after it banned a planned demonstration by the kingdom’s main political bloc, al-Wefaq.

The rights group issued a statement in reaction to the ban, which had prevented al-Wefaq from staging the protest rally in Jablat Hibshi on Thursday, The Associated Press reported.

"Despite recent promises of reform and the guarantee of basic human rights, the authorities continue to violate the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly and have publicly announced that any gathering today (Thursday) would be illegal," said Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

"The fact that a peaceful protest has not been granted an official permit does not justify arbitrary arrest or the unnecessary use of disproportionate force by police against protesters. The Bahraini authorities should act immediately to ensure that this does not happen and that the law on gathering is brought in line with international law," Sahraoui added.

On Wednesday, Amnesty also urged Bahraini authorities to release prominent Human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who has been jailed for expressing his opinions on the social networking website, Twitter.

The rights group said that Rajab had to be released immediately since he is jailed solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression.