After Bahrain election fiasco, protests continue, two executed by Saudis
The past week was dominated by the regime-controlled elections in Bahrain which, in the past, had been futile. The majority of the native Bahrainis boycotted the ballet boxes knowing that under the khalifi absolute dictatorship the elections would not lead to an elected government. Neither the prime minister nor any of the ministers are elected in this process. What would come out of this process is a chamber which has no power of initiating legislations, the right to question the ministers or monitor the prime minister. The “royal” court will appoint the government and would force the “elected” half of the consultative council (40 elected and 40 appointed) to rubber-stamp its laws and decisions. This chamber would also be considered a partner in the normalization of relations with the occupiers of Palestine. The whole election process is flawed and has no resemblance to the democratic processes in other countries. Last week British MPs issued an Early Day Motion (EDM 553) condemning those elections and calling for the release of the political prisoners including those on death row, the ending of the khalifi tight grip on power and an end for the “political exclusion”.
Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International had issued statements condemning the khalifi elections. The vast majority of the natives decided to boycott this futile show exercise and have thus denied the dictator and his son the pleasure of boasting of their “democracy” to the outside world. It was a fiasco of the regime’s own making and is unlikely to impact the normal course of anti-regime activism that has plagued the country since the 14th February Revolution 2011.
Yesterday political detainee and religious scholar Sheikh Abdul Hadi Al Mokhowdar started hunger strike to protest ill-treatment. He was abused by one of the prison torturers. This jailer performed the duties of the judge and the executioner and passed his own verdict on this highly-respected scholar who has been behind bars for almost 12 years. He called him a “criminal”, a term that is abusive and totally inappropriate to be said about a pious and highly moral religious figure. People who shared cells with him at the khlaifi torture centres spoke highly of Sheikh Al Mokhowdar as a scholar, teacher and moral person.
Meanwhile, Dr Abdul Jalil Al Singace has completed 485 days on hunger strike and his health is deteriorating. He lost much of his weight and is suffering various ailments and loneliness in his solitary confinement. For more than a year both himself and Mr Hassan Mushaima have been kept at Kanoo health clinic which is not attended by anyone else. The two senior opposition figures have not met since their transfer from Jau Prison although they are at the same prison facility.
Last week the khalifi regimes said that hackers had targeted government websites amid the regime’s election. The Interior Ministry did not identify the websites targeted, but the country’s state-run Bahrain News Agency could not be reached online. Screenshots taken by internet users showed a picture after the hack claiming it was carried out by a previously unknown account called Al-Toufan, or “The Flood” in Arabic. Social media accounts associated with Al-Toufan said the group targeted the parliament’s website “due to the persecution carried out by the Bahraini authorities, and in implementation of the popular will to boycott the sham elections.”
On 10th November Saudi authorities executed two Pakistani nationals for alleged drug-related crimes, the first such executions since the Human Rights Commission announced a moratorium on the use of the death penalty for drug-related crimes in January 2021. The two victims were executed after a highly-flawed trial.
This week Abdullah Jelan (30), a Saudi citizen, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a travel ban for ten years by the Specialized Criminal Court in (SCC). This is the latest case of a rights activist being sentenced to a long-term prison sentence over social media posts on issues such as unemployment, freedom of speech, and women’s rights. UK-based human rights group ALQST stated that despite Jelan’s peaceful activism he was sentenced last month by the SCC which focuses on terrorism cases. He graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, USA and had been vocal on Twitter through an anonymous account. He was arrested in May 2021 upon his return to Saudi Arabia from the US.
On 13th November the wife of Mohammad Fahd Al Qahtani tweeted that her jailed husband had not contacted her for three weeks. She said this is the longest period without contact since he had been detained ten years ago. Her contacts with the prison officials did not establish the reason for denying him the right to speak to his wife.
Yesterday Indonesian activists and human rights campaigners took to the streets to protest against the visit by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for the G20 summit in Bali. MBS is not welcome in #G20Indonesia they chanted.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
16th November 2022
