Bahraini political prisoners abused, Saudis detain senior judges
The families of native Bahraini political prisoners are becoming extremely worried about the well-being of their sons especially when their phone or visual calls are cut off abruptly. Yesterday the family of Mohammad Al Singace expressed deep fear for his life when his visual call was suddenly ended. When they called the prison officials they were told that he was transferred to the clinic because of his sudden collapse. Also the family of his cousin, Abd Ali AlSingace became worried when he appeared during the call, drawn out, weak and disoriented. When they asked the torture officials about his health they were told he was suffering kidney problems. Fears are also deepening for the life of Dr Abdul AlSingace as he continues his hunger strike for the tenth month running. He is demanding that the manuscript of his literary book confiscated by the khalifi torturers be handed to his family. PEN Internationals has included Dr Abdul Jalil AlSingace in a list of 11 writers worldwide who are serving life imprisonment for their opinion.
Native Bahraini political prisoner, Mansoor Khalaf has been transferred to solitary confinement for the second time during the month of Ramadan. Despite his deteriorating medical condition he was kept in chains for three days. Since the beginning of Ramadan political prisoner, Yousuf Hussain who is severely diabetic has had his daily pills delayed for over two hours. This means that he and others with the same conditions have to delay the breaking of their fast for that period. They are then forced to eat their meal after it has become cold. Other detainees at Bloc 4 at Jau prison are experiencing the same ill-treatment.
Yesterday under-aged political prisoners at the notorious Dry Dock jail began hunger strike after the khalifi torturers refused to acknowledge several demands. Among these demands is to implement the articles contained in the laws regulating the detention of children especially Law No 4/2021. Despite numerous calls by those children and their families the regime’s torturers have refused to heed the calls. In early April, inmates at Bahrain’s Jau prison crowded into the corridors to protest. They were angry about the lack of medical treatment and fearing for their lives after the death of another inmate. Their sit-in at Bloc 13 lasted 10 days, and spread to other blocs in Jau, an infamous prison complex in the south of the kingdom. Inmates say authorities regularly delay or deny vital medical care to prisoners – especially prisoners of conscience. The concern has grown since late March when Covid-19 began to tear through the prison system. Prisoners and rights groups say that the authorities failed to prevent the outbreak and have denied some inmates their choice of vaccine.
Recently, the Saudi Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman, ordered extensive arrests of judges, some of whom are loyalists, and those who issued sentences against detainees and opinion activists. Among the detained judges are: Abdullah bin Khaled al-Luhaidan (the son of the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the judge in the General Court of First Instance), Abdulaziz bin Madawi Al Jaber (recently promoted to appeal in the Specialized Criminal Court), Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Saghir, Talal bin Abdullah Al-Humaidan (who are members of the Court of Appeal), Nasser Al-Harbi, Khalid bin Awaid Al-Qahtani, and Muhammad bin Misfer Al-Ghamdi. The last three are members of the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia. Earlier, the Saudi authorities arrested many activists, politicians and human rights defenders. As well as a large number of preachers headed by Sheikh Salman Al-Awdah and Awad Al-Qarni. A number of public figures and thinkers are among the detainees.
Saudi political prisoner, Hasan Zaki al-Faraj is facing “Ta’zir” death penalty on several charges, allegedly committed when he was a minor at 14 of age. From the moment of his arrest Al-Faraj was severely tortured, by beating and electric shocks. To this day, he still suffers from that torture and has been forced to sign confessions.
A newly-released report says that the British government is providing more than a dozen repressive regimes around the world with wiretaps, spyware and other telecommunications interception equipment they could use to spy on dissidents, public records show. Despite rules saying the UK should not export security goods to countries that might use them for internal repression, ministers have signed off more than £75m in such exports over the past five years to states rated “not free” by the NGO Freedom House. The 17 countries include China, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as well as the United Arab Emirates, which was the biggest recipient of licences totaling £11.5m alone since 2015. Human rights groups said the UK was developing a reputation for not conducting proper checks on who it sold arms to, while Labour called on the government to show it is working to prove that it is complying with its own rules against arming dictators.
Last week an ethnic Uyghur woman held in Saudi Arabia told AFP she feared being deported to China within hours, after authorities told her to prepare to board a flight. Buheliqiemu Abula and her 13-year-old daughter have been in custody in Saudi Arabia since being detained in Mecca earlier this month.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
20th April 2022