15 NGOs call for AlSingace release, cruel sentence of Saudi woman

On 10th August regime’s forces snatched native Bahraini youth Ahmad Makki AlHuda. They
raided his house, ransacked it, scattered its contents and confiscated some items including his
books. The attack lasted three hours. No justification has been given for the criminal raid.
After many hours he called his family and only said: “I am at the CID, I need clothes.” In the
early hours of the following day, another youth, Ahmad Ali Shaikh was snatched in a similar
way. His family only knew of his arrest in the afternoon when he called them briefly. Before
the phone call they thought he had been at work. Both are from Nuwaidrat.

On 11th August political prisoner, Salman Ali Hassan Salman started hunger strike to protest
his ill-treatment at the hands of the prison officials who had denied him his basic rights
including the right to have reasonable clothing. Under-aged prisoner, Ali Isa Abdul-
IthnaAshar from Duraz has been forcibly disappeared for some time. Two weeks ago he was
attacked by the jailers at the Dry Dock prison. He was sprayed with pepper and taken to
unknown destination.

The officials at the notorious Jau Prison have banned the political prisoners at Rooms 1 to 4
of Bloc 21 from their daily outing for four days. Thus they will not see daylight or breath
fresh air. This is in retaliation for their protest against the 45 minutes that they are allowed to
leave their cells and see the sun and calling for a longer period outside the fence.

On 13th August 15 organisations including Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the king
of Bahrain that he should free Dr. Abduljalil al-Singace, an academic imprisoned since 2011.

Al-Singace, 60, has been on a long-term hunger strike and has post-polio syndrome and
numerous other health conditions. He is being denied adequate medical care, his family said.
“It is outrageous that Bahraini authorities are apparently denying Dr. Abduljalil al-Singace
the medical care he urgently needs, in addition to his deeply unjust 12 years of imprisonment
and life sentence after a manifestly unfair trial,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East
director at Human Rights Watch. “The Bahraini government should immediately allow al-
Singace to receive essential medical care and restore the dignity he rightly deserves.”
On 9th August Saudi Arabia has sentenced women’s rights defender Salma al-Shehab to 34
years in prison – the longest jail term ever handed to a peaceful activist. This follows Biden’s
recent meeting with MBS, which rights campaigners warned would embolden the regime to
step up repression. The sentence was passed by the Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal.

Salma, a mother of two, was born in 1988 and is conducting a PhD research. Many young
women were detained around the same time as Salma al-Shehab, mostly because of social
media posts. She was initially given a six years sentence but increased on appeal. There are
credible reports that other Saudis recently also had court sentences dramatically increased
when they attempted appeals.

Saudi Arabia has executed 120 people in the first six months of 2022, according to a rights
organization, nearly double the number put to death in all of last year despite its promises to
reduce capital punishment. As early as 2018, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, spoke of curtailing the death penalty, one of a string of public
promises made by him to silence opposition to his jumping the queue to the top. After a
major drop in 2020, 65 people were put to death in 2021; then in just the first six months of
this year, the number of executions nearly doubled. By June, the numbers for this year had
exceeded those of 2020 and 2021 combined, according to a statement from the European
Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) sent to media Aug. 9. “If Saudi Arabia

continues to execute people at the same pace during the second half of 2022, they will reach
an unprecedented number of executions, exceeding the record high of 186 executions in
2019,” the report stated.

Reprieve is leading a campaign against the use of sports to whitewash Saudi regime’s crimes.
Under the title: Mohammed bin Salman: Keep your blood-stained hands off sports it said:
“Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to use sports to distract the world from his
human rights abuses. Saudi Arabia’s rulers think they can buy a new reputation as leaders of
a progressive Government – not an authoritarian regime that tortures and executes its critics
for standing up for human rights. So far, the world is letting them do it. This is
sportswashing. We all love sports. But when bank-rolling sporting events helps a regime that
executes child defendants to launder its reputation, we must ask ourselves: how did we allow
this to happen and how can we stop it now? Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF),
controlled by the Crown Prince, has bought Newcastle FC, created the LIV golf series,
established a partnership with WWE, staged F1 races, and is now, despite his human rights
record, looking to host a Women’s Tennis Association tour event. We can’t let Mohammed
bin Salman get away with this. He has blood on his hands and those hands need to stay off
the sports we love.

Bahrain Freedom Movement
17th August 2022