DUBAI: U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has asked the body governing Formula One motor racing to consider the deteriorating rights situation in Bahrain when considering next week whether to reinstate its Grand Prix.
Bahrain cancelled the prestigious event, was which was to take place in March, after democracy campaigners inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia began their own protest movement in the Gulf Arab state.

“Racing officials should seriously consider the appropriateness of holding a Formula One event this year in Bahrain in light of the scale of human rights violations there,” HRW said in a statement released late Thursday.
The Sunni Muslim-run government broke up the protest movement in March, declared martial law and launched a crackdown on opposition groups dominated by Shiite Muslims, who form a majority in Bahrain, accusing them of links to Shiite Iran.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent troops to help Bahrain restore order.
Human Rights Watch “questioned whether a successful Formula One event could be held in an environment characterized by large-scale arbitrary arrests, prolonged incommunicado detentions, credible allegations of torture, and mass dismissals of workers.”

Bahraini rights activists say they estimate that over 1,000 people remain in detention.
Thousands of Shiites have been fired or suspended from jobs in state-run companies and institutions. HRW said that includes the staff of the Bahrain International Circuit, where the Bahrain Grand Prix takes place.
Bahrain hopes the end of the emergency law will herald a return to normality that allows leisure and business travelers to return. Opposition and rights figures say they fear repression will continue behind the scenes.
This month U.S. President Barack Obama called on Bahrain, ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa family, to reopen talks with the opposition. He criticized the destruction of Shiite mosques during the period of martial law.