People rally in Bahrain on May 8 calling on authorities to stop the human rights abuses taking place in Jaw prison. Photo from Al Wefaq National Islamic Society's Official Twitter Account @AlWefaqEN Prominent Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja went public with his hunger strike, which has now been going on for 23 days since he demanded authorities to investigate allegations of torture in Jaw prison with no progress. In an open letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, Al-Khawaja said: Building 10 in Jaw prison has become known as the torture building, and I have personally been hearing the screams of the victims. He added that the type of torture prisoners have been subjected to in the last few months is the worst since 2011, when a so-called Arab Spring-inspired uprising started. Attached to his letter were detailed accounts of torture and mistreatment incidents on different occasions, including the crackdown on riots that happened inside Jaw prison. Alkhawaja appeals to the High Commissioner for Human Rights to move rapidly on the situation in Jaw prison http://t.co/GYMssQsAxv #Bahrain — Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) May 10, 2015 The main Jaw prison incident started on March 10, when an inmate's family was visiting the center and were told their son was barred from visits. The inmate's sister had an exchange with the police officer who reportedly hit her in return. Outraged inmates who witnessed the incident at the visitation lobby were taken back to the main prison buildings and riots erupted. In a post written by Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab before he got arrested for tweeting, he revealed what had happened that day after the inmates were taken back to the main building: They marched the inmates out into the courtyards, where every one of them was beaten and humiliated by the police. The forces took shifts terrorizing the inmates, passing the baton between Bahraini police and Jordanian units. The inmates were shot at with shotguns and sound grenades, aimed at their bodies. Inmates were forced to address the officers as ‘master’, beaten if they asked to be taken to the toilet (where they were given 30 seconds to relieve themselves), beaten during meals, and forced to insult their families or face more beatings. Rajab is the president of Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and a leading voice for the Bahraini uprising. He has been arrested and detained several times since 2011 for different charges, including “inciting gatherings and calling for unauthorized marches through social networking sites”, “participation in an illegal assembly”, and “insulting public institutions.” Most of his work has a heavy weight on social media, the main platform for his advocacy for human rights. Most of his latest arrests are in connection with statements and accusations directed at the government he had published on Twitter. His latest arrest on April 2 was related to tweets about abuses at Bahrain’s Jaw prison and the crisis in Yemen. On May 11, authorities prolonged Rajab's detention for two more weeks after having already extended it several times before. Also in his letter, Al-Khawaja says prisoners were left out in the prison's yard for three days before they were forced to cramp up in two plastic tents. One tent had 310 prisoners, and the other had 318. Inmates revelation to @hrw details the same facts of torture and abuse in Jaw Prison, to which @NABEELRAJAB is being arrested for. #Bahrain — Bahrain Human Rights (@BahrainRights) May 6, 2015 #Bahrain: Troubling allegations of severe abuse in Jaw Prison. Medical access needed. http://t.co/NdXSvWsu5F pic.twitter.com/pkkjeKn5Fn — Wenzel Michalski (@WenzelMichalski) May 6, 2015 Authorities reported a different side of the story, claiming that police controlled acts of “violence and vandalism.” They cite the prison center's director explaining one of the inmate's family asked to let a relative in with them for visitation, but their request was denied because the visitor did not carry an ID. The center's director confirmed that some family members in connection with the incident were arrested, and “police acted to restore control” after a male nurse was taken hostage by prison inmates. On the Ministry of Interior's official Twitter account, they announced that the whole incident had been recorded: PT: Jaw Prison incidents were documented on video — Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) March 10, 2015 Yet no video has been available for the public.