Pope is urged to cancel Bahrain visit, Saudis condemn three to death
Calls have been for Pope Benedict XVI to cancel his visit next month to Bahrain, whose regime has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Religious scholars, activists, politicians and victims have appealed to his Holiness not to grant legitimacy to the khalifi regime that jails, tortures, executes and abuse freedom activists. In 2017 the most senior religious figure was stripped of his nationality and exiled. The native majority is persecuted.
Members of the Scottish Parliament have tabled a motion on Bahrain’s human rights. It protests against what is sees as “serios human rights violations, including the arbitrary detention of political prisoners in contravention of international law, torture, death penalty, arbitrary detentions.” It also condemns “the imprisonment of political opposition leaders, and the deliberate systematic denial of adequate medical care reported in many of their cases.” It says that the regime’s elections “lack legitimacy and make a mockery of democratic principles while opposition leaders continue to be unlawfully detained”.
Meanwhile in London Jeremy Corbyn, MP, has tweeted the following: “Last year, Britain gave £1.8m to Bahrain, whose security services have been accused of torture, sham trials & executions. The UK govt must immediately stop funding institutions implicated in human rights violations. Until then, it has blood on its hands.”
Politicians and human rights groups have renewed calls for the University of Huddersfield to end its relationship with the Bahrain security services. The university runs a Masters degree in security sciences at the Royal Academy of Police in the gulf state. A new report from two human rights groups confirms that prisoners in Bahrain had been tortured at the academy. A spokesperson for the university said it would not comment on the new allegations.
More than 80 political prisoners at wing 1 of Bloc 9 at Jaw prison have refused to receive their breakfast meals in protest at the continuing lack of care and harsher conditions. Young political prisoner, Hussain Muhanna was recently forcibly disappeared for three months. During this period he was severely tortured and abused for 65 days. Only when most of the torture signs disappeared was a family visit allowed recently.
Regime’s courts have imposed a two-month detention on two young native Bahrainis: Ahmad Al Sheikh and Ahmad Al Hadi. It also imposed two-weeks detention on Ali Al Ajooz.
The wife of a native Bahraini man has tweeted about the denial of medical treatment to her husband who is on death row for opposing the khalifi dictatorship. She said: “My husband, who is sentenced to death in #Bahrain, Mohammed Ramadhan, is still suffering aggravation from the growth in his neck. Jau prison authorities continue to deny him access to an MRI scan and treatment, despite our repeated requests.”
In the first week of this month the Saudi authorities quietly sentenced three brothers to death after they refused to move out of their homes to make for the new futuristic city of NEOM. Shadli, Attaullah and Ibrahim al-Howeiti – of the Howeitat tribe from the northern Tabuk province – were sentenced to death by The Specialised Criminal Court (SSC). In September, other Howeiti people were sentenced to 50 years in prison by Saudi Arabia’s SSC, which tries terror-related cases, but it is mainly used to charge human rights activists and dissidents. Their brother, Abdul Rahim al-Howeitat, was shot dead by Saudi special forces in April 2020 after he criticised the compulsory eviction in his final social media post, in which he accused Saudi Arabia of “state terrorism”.
Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Basfar has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. His crime: accepting an invitation to lead prayers in the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Turkey. On 18th October. The SSC also sentenced Sheikh Mujtaba Al Nimr to 12 years in jail. He is from Qatif in the Eastern Province. On 16th October, the trial of religious scholar and thinker, Dr Hassan Farhan Al Maliki was postponed for the 16th time. He has been in detention since September 2017. The Saudi regime cannot try him because he is innocent. The SSC has overturned the acquittal of Yemeni journalist Marwan Al-Muraisy and issued a 5-year prison sentence against him. Saudi Arabia has issued a royal decree appointing a detective involved in the cover up of Khashoggi murder as President of the notorious SSC, and other loyalist security officials lacking basic training as judges.
OMCT, the international committee against torture has tweeted about a Saudi woman political prisoner; “Israa al-Ghomgham asks for rights for all citizens of #SaudiArabia…” Many in her country share her dream of justice, but not the Saudi government. She has been in jail for 7 years.” Saudi Human rights activist Issa Al-Nukhaifi has been on hunger strike since Saturday 15th October. He is protesting his illegal detention.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
19th October 2022