Bahrain Welcomes European Delegation, Not Delegates' Calls to Free Dissidents As The Lede reported on Wednesday, a delegation from the European Parliament visited Bahrain this week to discuss human rights, just as the kingdom jailed a rights advocate for documenting a protest on Twitter. Bahrain's state news media presented the visit as evidence that the kingdom is committed to human rights. One report showed the delegates meeting with the head of an official human rights organization established by royal decree, another their briefing by the royal who oversees the police force "on human rights reforms that have been implemented within the interior ministry." What the country's official news agency did not report, however, is that the head of the delegation, Inese Vaidere of Latvia, called for the release of all "prisoners of conscience" currently being detained for their role in the protest movement. Ms. Vaidere's call was joined by at least two other members of the delegation, Richard Howitt of Britain and Ana Gomes of Portugal, who issued a joint statement calling on the government to immediately release up to 800 "political prisoners" and begin direct talks with the opposition. Ms. Gomes was barred from entering Bahrain at the airport when she attempted to visit the kingdom in April to meet with rights activists. Throughout the three-day visit, Mr. Howitt posted a stream of updates on his Twitter feed on the delegation's meetings with Bahraini officials and detained opposition members. He said that he questioned the treatment of human rights activists like Said Yousif al-Muhafda, who was jailed on Monday for tweeting about a protest. Mr. Howitt also described meetings with detained rights activists. They included Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights -- who was jailed for inciting antigovernment protests in speeches and Twitter updates -- and the same rights group's founder, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja -- who was sentenced to life in prison by a military court last year for his role in the 2011 protests. Claims that the men are confined in luxurious surroundings are untrue, Mr. Howitt reported.