Concern for jailed Bahraini HR activist, F1 will speak against Saudi abuses
Bahraini human rights defender, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who has been wrongfully imprisoned for the past 11 years, is being denied medical care and he may loose the sight of one of his eyes. Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa said: “We are very concerned about the health of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, whom his daughter says is being denied medical treatment for suspected glaucoma, which could lead to blindness ،as a result of the injuries he sustained back in 2011 when he was subjected to torture… This is the latest show of cruelty by the Bahraini authorities who have a track record of medical neglect of prisoners. Healthcare in Bahrain’s prison system is marred by regular instances of denial of medical care, delay, and arbitrary exercise of authority, which in specific cases rise to the level of intentional illtreatment. She added: “We call on the authorities to immediately ensure he receives the medical treatment and care he needs and remind them that medical negligence could amount to a violation of the right to health.”
Persecution of the natives has continued through detentions and interrogations. A young native Bahraini youth has been detained and added to the thousands of political prisoners. Sayed Abdulla Sayed Mohammad from the town of Buquwa was summoned by the torture apparatus and detained. Yesterday two people were summoned to appear at Al Ma’aredh torture centre in Manama. Ali Muhanna and Majid Abdulla (known as Hajji Sumood) were asked to appear for interrogation.
In its submission on Bahrain for the Universal Periodic Review at the 41st Session of the Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch has described an awful situation in the country. It said: “Bahrain has failed to live up to the recommendations that it supported and pledges it made in the past three cycles of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In 2021, Bahraini activists commemorated the 10th anniversary of the 2011 uprisings amid continuing heavy repression. Oversight mechanisms are not independent of the government and officials are not held accountable for torture and ill-treatment of prisoners. Bahrain continues to arbitrarily imprison individuals for participating in protests and to deny activists and human rights defenders fair trials. There is no independent media and the draft press law of 2021 has expanded restrictions to digital space. The authorities deny access to independent rights monitors and the UN special procedures, like the special rapporteur on torture.
The chair of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), Alex Wurz, has put F1 on notice that its drivers will no longer stay silent on issues such as where the sport races after they considered boycotting the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The GPDA represents the 20 F1 drivers and the controversy in Saudi Arabia was, for Wurz, indicative of the sea change in the attitude of his members and across sport as a whole that has taken place recently. “We can see that sport has undergone a very swift change over the last few years,” he said. “It really came to the surface with the issue of racism and with Black Lives Matter. Before, drivers were seen as sportspeople where the position was: ‘I am a sportsperson, I am not getting involved in politics.’ That time has really gone.
On Thursday 31st March, the Saudi authorities arrested a Uyghurian Muslim woman called “Buheliqiemu Abula” with her teenage daughter last Thursday, without knowing the reasons for the arrest. The fate of a young man who had been detained by the Saudi authorities for three years remains unknown. Musa Abu Hussain, an Engineer, was arbitrarily detained in April 2019 for no obvious reason and has been forcibly disappeared.
On Sunday 3rd April Mohammed al-Faraj’s hearing was postponed. Reprieve, the anti-capital punishment body said: This is the fifth time this has happened to Mohammed. No reason was given by the Saudi Arabian authorities.
So he remains in prison at risk of a death sentence. It’s five years on from Mohammed being arrested, tortured and imprisoned. He’s missed finishing school with his friends, starting university and finding his first job. We are devastated so many years have been stolen from Mohammed – and that he remains in prison not knowing what will happen to him. 20,136 people in this community signed the petition calling on the Saudi Arabian authorities not to sentence Mohammed to death. Reprieve is campaigning to save the life of Mohammed al-Faraj and is fundraising to campaign for his release.
In a joint statement with nine other organisations, MENA Rights Group condemns the inclusion of four Emirati activists and members of the UAE 94 on the UAE terrorism list. In their statement, eight organisations call on the UAE to immediately and unconditionally remove the activists’ names from the terrorism list and to immediately and unconditionally release those who have been unjustly and arbitrarily detained as part of the UAE 94 trial.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
6th April 2022