New disease blight Bahraini prisoners, calls to stop Saudi executions
It has been confirmed that several political prisoners in Bahrain have attracted lung Tuberculosis similar to Ahmad Jaber who was released last week from jail after his condition had been diagnosed. Hassan Abdulla Habib has now been diagnosed with the disease after he developed severe pains in his bones. Murtada Mohammad Abdul Reda, 21, has also been diagnosed with the disease. He has severe pain in his body, inflammation and pain in his neck. He was detained when he was underaged. On Monday 30th May, political prisoner, Sayed Nizar Al Wadaei was transferred to solitary confinement for demanding medical care. It is feared that he may have attracted Tuberculosis as he shows symptoms similar to those confirmed to have it. Nizar has been suffering severe pains in his neck and breathlessness. He was given painkillers but his condition has not improved. His father Sayed Ni’ma Al Wadaei, 58 was summoned by the torture regime on Monday. This is line with the collective punishment policy of the khalifi regime. Several members of the family had been jailed in the past few years.
Political prisoners at Blocs 7,8 and 9 of the notorious Jau prison have been denied the right to practice their religious rituals. They wanted to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Jaffar Al Sadiq but were banned. This is despite the regime’s highly publicized but hollow claims of religious tolerance. The native majority have been subjected to systematic religious and political persecution. Jaffar Marhoon is a political prisoner who was detained last month at the Bahrain-Saudi causeway. He was involved in a struggle with one of the regime’s thugs. He is a former political prisoner and victim of torture. Jaffar was repeatedly detained and abused.
Political prisoner, Abdulla Abdul Karim Abdulla from Sanabis Town was subjected to horrific attack by a a Yemeni mercenary called Faris, employed by the khalifi dictators in their wars against the native Bahrainis. The victim was being taken to a clinic outside the prison when the attack happened. It has now become a pattern that torture is administered outside the official prison to avoid detection. The prison cameras documented the crime but the regime refuses to release it. Another political prisoner, Ali Abbas has been denied treatment for his diseased knee. Doctors have diagnosed his problem and requested immediate treatment.
On 26th may an Early Day Motion (EDM) on Dr Al-Singace’s hunger strike and political prisoners in Bahrain was filed at the UK Parliament. It condemns the Bahraini government’s justification of the confiscation of his research; decries al-Singace’s life sentence for his peaceful leading role in Bahrain’s 2011 pro-democracy uprising; unreservedly condemns al-Singace’s torture in 2011 by Bahraini officials; echoes the consensus of international calls from the human rights community, UN experts, global academics, and parliamentarians for al-Singace’s release; calls upon the Government to urgently press for the return of al-Singace’s research, impose Magnitsky Act Sanctions on those responsible for his unlawful imprisonment, including Interior Minister Rashid Al-Khalifa; and calls for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as that of the approximate 1,400 political prisoners in Bahrain, including Hassan Mushaima, Sheikh Ali Salman, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Sheikh Mohamed Habib AlMuqdad, Abdulwahab Husain and Ali Al-Hajee.
The sister of a Saudi Twitter spy victim has urged Google to halt the cloud project. Abdulrahman al-Sadhan was jailed in Saudi Arabia for tweeting criticism of the kingdom. His sister says his story should be a cautionary tale for Google which plans to open a Saudi cloud region. “They broke his hand and fingernails and said, ‘This is the hand you tweet with’,” Areej al-Sadhan told last week’s conference organized by Oslo Freedom Forum. @OsloFF
Yesterday Jeed Basyouni, Head of Death Penalty for MENA region at Reprieve issued a statement urging people to write to the Chair of the Saudi Arabian Human Rights Commission, Awwad al-Awwad, to save the life of a young political prisoner, Mohammed al-Faraj. It said: The Reprieve community must do everything to stop this from happening. He was just a child when he was arrested and tortured into signing a false “confession”.
On 30th May a letter was sent to UAE president, Mohammad bin Zayed urging him to release the political prisoners. It said: we appeal to you not only to release all prisoners of conscience in UAE jails but also to ensure that such violations will not be repeated. It called for “the protection of their rights, such as medical care and regular family visits, and ending all forms of violations they are being exposed to.” Among the signatories were: ALQST for Human Rights, Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre, Geneva council for rights and liberties, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Skyline International for Human Rights, International Centre for Justice and Human Rights, International Campaign for Justice and Human Rights, MENA Rights group, FEMENA, Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, CIVICUS, HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
1st June 2022