Khalifis unworthy of HRC, Truss rebuked on Gulf human rights
In a U-turn move, the khalifi ruling family withdrew Bahrain’s application for the candidacy of Human Rights Council after critics had drawn attention to serious human rights violations. This followed an embarrassing development The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres recently mentioned Bahrain as one of the 42 countries which that take revenge actions against people who cooperate with the UN. Mr Guterres mentioned three names: Hassan Mushaima, Dr Abdul Jalil Al Singace and Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja. The three have been in jail for almost 12 years for demanding political reforms in the country. A memo circulated among council members by the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) drew attention to arbitrary detention as well as reprisals against individuals, as cited in a U.N. report last month.
On Monday regime’s forces detained a native Bahraini youth for opposing the regime’s repressive policies. Ali Ibrahim Al Ajooz, from Nuwaidrat town was snatched and ill-treated. Another native Bahraini citizen has also been detained. Abbas Ali Awn from Samheej Town was snatched by the jailers from the court which had upheld an earlier sentence of one year imprisonment. The young man has harboured anti-regime sentiments.
The mother of political prisoner, Ahmad Al Ujaimi is extremely worried for his well-being as she has not heard from him for some time. The mother of two brothers: Mohsin and Abbas Ibrahim Al Majed has demanded to know what had happened to her detained sons. She has not heard from them for ten days and is extremely worried for their well-being. Another political prisoner, Abdul Jalil Hassan Habib has been denied proper treatment for several ailments including inflammation of his teeth.
On 3rd October, three of the most senior jailed opposition figures staged a hunger strike to protest the punishment of the other prisoners. The political detainees had met with several senior opposition figures and staged a protest when one of them, Sheikh Abdul Jalil Al Miqdad was abused by the regime’s torturers last week. Their action infuriated the khalifi torturers. They reacted by depriving those detainees from telephone calls to their families or getting their one hour “free” time in the courtyard of the prison. The three strikers, Sheikh Abdul Jalil Al Miqdad, Sheikh Abdul Hadi Al Mokhowdar and Mr Mohammad Ali have been behind bars for almost twelve years for demanding political reforms.
The son of a prominent jailed Saudi cleric has fled the kingdom and applied for asylum in the UK, saying his life was threatened by Saudi authorities. Nasser Al-Qarni said he was warned by Saudi state security officials that he would be detained or executed if he criticized the treatment of his father, Awad Al-Qarni. The elder Al-Qarni was arrested in 2017 for tweeting criticism of the Saudi regime, according to a letter from United Nations human rights envoys.
The UK prime minister, Liz Truss, has come under fire for misleading the parliament about raising human rights issues with Gulf officials. She has been accused of “lying” to a parliamentary committee about what was said during a meeting with the leaders of autocratic Gulf states. In a special meeting with the MPs two months ago, she claimed to have raised human rights issues with officials from the GCC countries, but failed to remember even one instance to substantiate that claim. Reprieve, the international NGO that campaigns against the death penalty tweeted: “Liz Truss must come clean about her failure to raise horrific human rights abuses with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain’s leaders – some of the most repressive regimes ion in the world.”
On the fourth anniversary of the murder of the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, his friends and relatives remembered him in somber settings. Their feelings are muted with deep disappointment as the leaders of the “Free World” rushed to re-embrace the Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) as a statesman. His wife, Khadija Jenkiz filed a civil lawsuit in the US against MBS who is the main suspect behind the murder, She tweeted: #MBSmade a new request to the lawsuit I filed against him in #America today through his lawyer. The request is: “I am the prime minister, I have immunity, you cannot judge me.”
The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh has sentenced Saudi blogger Daoud Al-Ali to 25 years in prison for opposing the normalization of relations with Israel. According to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, the SSC, which is specializes in terrorism crimes, issued the sentence on charges related to his writings on Twitter. Another political prisoner, human rights activist Mohammed al-Rabiah has completed his prison sentence but remains in detention. His six-and-a-half year sentence included a suspension of two years, meaning that it has now expired.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
5th October 2022