Agony of Bahrainis and Saudis intensifies as dictatorship deepens
After a string of repressive measures by the regime’s prison officials, Dr Abdul Jalil Al Singace has decided to escalate his hunger strike as his last means of protest that he hopes will make a difference. From this week he stopped taking fluids, salts and supplement. He has been on hunger strike for over 430 days in protest at the lack of medical care, the confiscation of his literary book and disruption of his contacts with the outside world including family visits. His condition is now desperate and his survival is on the balance.
A leading figure of Al Wefaq Society and former member of parliament, Abdul Jalil Khalil said that the number of unemployed professional native Bahrainis is on the increase. He said there are currently about 900 engineers and 400 doctors who are unable to find jobs.
The mother of political prisoner on death row, Hussain Ibrahim Marzooq has complained of the denial of humane treatment to her son. She said that he had not been taken to the Salmaniya Hospital for pre-arranged medical consultations and urgent medical treatment to his back and joints. He is experiencing excruciating pain and inability to move. Another political prisoner, Mansoor Khalaf is also denied proper medical care. After months of complaints he was diagnosed on 5th September to have a blood virus. He had earlier been given the wrong medicines for stomach and heart ailments which may have led to the new diagnosis.
Maryam Al Khawaja has tweeted about her father, Abdul Hadi al Khawaja who has been behind bars for almost 12 years. She said: “My father, Danish/Bahraini HRD, is being targeted in prison because he stood up to torturer Marwan Alkhudairi. The prison administrators, most of them politically naturalized, want to use him as an example so no one dares to do what he is doing; speaking up.” She added: “My father and everyone with him shouldn’t be in prison to begin with. Eleven years he has been sitting in a prison cell, having survived torture and multiple hunger strikes. He is a human rights defender and has chosen to use his right to free expression.” Yesterday Human Rights Watch tweeted: “Danish-Bahraini citizen and human rights defender Abdulhadi AlKhawaja has been imprisoned in Bahrain since 2011 for his involvement in peaceful protests. 11 years in prison are 11 too many.”
Death row political prisoner, Mohamed Ramadhan has been in “severe pain” for two months and asking Jau Prison authorities for help, but his pleas have been met with silence. His wife said that his pleas for treatment have been ignored. After insistence, the doctor finally saw him from a distance of two metres, without accurately diagnosing his condition. But he prescribed some medicines that have not yet been dispensed to him.
Under the heading “UK boosts funding for crackdowns in Gulf states guilty of human rights abuses” The Independent yesterday published an article that said: “Bahrain is accused of abusing children detained without access to a lawyer or their parents, is being given funding for “the implementation of the juvenile justice law”. It went further to say: “Bahrain’s corrupt judiciary and sinister so-called ‘human rights’ oversight bodies have been repeatedly involved in covering up torture against children and people on death row, as well as justifying unlawful executions.”
US citizen Carly Morris has been summoned by Saudi authorities on charges of “disrupting public order.” She risks being detained. Morris and her 8 year old daughter have been trapped in Saudi Arabia since 2019 due to oppressive male guardianship laws. Mrs Wujdan Al Shanti has been expelled to Jordan by the Saudi authorities after one week detention at Al Shumaisi deportation centre. She is the wife of Dr Mohammad Al khudari.
Two members of the Howeitat tribe in Saudi Arabia forcibly displaced to make way for the $500bn Neom megacity, have received lengthy sentences over their protests against the project, a UK-based rights group has reported. Abdullah al-Howeiti and his relative, Abdullah Dukhail al-Howeiti, were both handed a 50-year prison term and 50-year travel ban for supporting their family’s refusal to be forcibly evicted from their homes in the Tabuk province of northwestern Saudi Arabia, according to Alqst. ‘The lengthy prison sentence handed against members of the Howeitat tribe follow a dangerous pattern we are seeing unfold in Saudi Arabia’ – Ramzi Kaiss, MENA Rights Group.
The Saudi crown prince was forced to cancel his invitation to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday following outrage over his visit to Britain. Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) was invited to attend the grand event, despite evidence that he ordered the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. News of his visit to Britain sparked protests and condemnation from rights groups, which accused MBS of using the funeral to whitewash Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record. The last-minute decision was the result of public opposition to his visit. However, other leaders from repressive Gulf states remained on the guest list for the Queen’s funeral, including Bahrain’s dictator. “It is shameful to see dictator Hamad greeted at Buckingham Palace, while there are hundreds of political prisoners suffering the worst conditions for daring to demand democracy.” Commented Sayed Ahmed Al Wadaei to comments to Bethany Rielly for the Morning Star. Human rights activists staged a protest outside the BBC against Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain’s visit to the UK.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
21st September 2022