During his visit to Bahrain on Thursday, the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, urged not to violate human rights and to respect the principle of freedom of belief.
Freedom of belief should be complete, not just freedom of prayer, underlined the Pope, invited by activists to speak on these issues during his visit.
The Pope also asked for “safe and dignified” conditions for workers. The rights of migrant workers were at the center of attention ahead of the World Cup in neighboring Qatar.
The Pope warned that overwork is actually dehumanizing. “This not only represents a serious risk of social instability, but also threatens human dignity,” said Francis.
“Work is as precious as bread (..), and bread is often poisoned because it enslaves,” Francis admitted in his opening speech to top Bahraini officials.
He added that men and women “instead of being objects of sacred and inviolable work are reduced to a mere means of creating wealth”.
It is very important that “fundamental human rights are not violated, but promoted”, the Pope underlined.
“I am thinking first of all of the right to life, of the need to always guarantee this right, including those who are punished and who should not be deprived of life,” said Francis.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch and eight other organizations called on the pope to publicly pressure Bahrain to stop executions, ban the death penalty and seriously investigate allegations of torture and other abuses.
Human rights groups also asked Francis to demand better protection for migrant workers, as well as the release of opposition activists and journalists detained by the 2011 protests.
A Bahraini government spokesman on Tuesday rejected claims from human rights groups and said Bahrain does not tolerate discrimination and no one is persecuted for their religious or political views.
