Prince Andrew courts Bahrain’s dictators, Saudis execute 17 people
Yesterday two members of Mr Hassan Mushaima’s family were arrested while protesting outside the Kanoo Centre where Mr Mushaima has been held in solitary confinement for over one year. They were calling for his release. After 12 years of incarceration the family decided to take his case to the street hoping to put enough pressures on his jailers to release him. He is 74 years old and is suffering from various ailments including cancer. They stood on the road side carrying his picture with slogans calling for his release. The royal court ordered the attack on the participants. They arrested Mohammed Hassan Mushaima and his cousin Hussain Al Ashoori. After abuse and intimidation Mohammed was released but Hussain was severely tortured by four officers. Fearing of media and political backlash for their crime they reversed the story and charged the victim with “assaulting” one of the torturers. He remains behind bars.
FrontLine Defenders, an organization campaigning for the defence of human rights activists said it was deeply concerned by a series of new criminal charges being tabled against leading human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. The charges appear to be a direct reprisal against him for speaking out in prison. His daughter, Maryam tweeted: “My father is yet again facing multiple charges for the exact same reasons – that he insists on speaking up in the face of injustice.” These are linked to his protests against conditions in Jau Prison and range from criticizing Israel to breaking a plastic chair.
Prince Andrew has visited Bahrain in secret amid claims he is eyeing an unofficial role as intermediary between the West and Gulf states in the energy crisis. The Duke flew out last week on the private jet of a billionaire Swiss contact to be pampered in all-expenses-paid luxury provided by friends in the Bahrain Royal Family, according to The Sun. Sayed Ahmed Al Wadaei, Director Of Advocacy at Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), said the prince’s relationship with the ruling family was “toxic and shameful”. He said: “For several years, he visited the country and met with Bahrain’s police force, despite their record of violence, extreme interrogation tactics, and use of torture.
Political prisoners at Bloc 7 of Jau Prison have continued their protests against the attacks and abuse meted against religious scholars, senior political figures and other detainees. Sheikh Abdul Hadi Al Mokhowdar was recently abused by the khalifi torturers. For over a year political prisoner Ali Aqeel has been complaining of medical negligence. He is in severe pain in his eye and ear. He also has persistent headache. Another detainee, Ali Al Banna has spelled out the medical negligence he has suffered. He said that a scheduled heart operation was cancelled in the last minute. No alternative date for the operation has been given.
Saudi authorities have continued their executions unabated. A U.N. human rights office spokesperson said that 17 men had been executed in Saudi Arabia since November 10 for drug and contraband offences, calling the executions “deeply regrettable”. Those killed were from Syria, Pakistan, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell told a Geneva press briefing. That brings the total number of executions this year to 144, she said. Reprieve, the international body campaigning against the death penalty said that the kingdom had exploited the World Cup event to carry out a horrifying execution spree. It further called for Hussein Abo al-Kheir’s release who was tortured into making a false confession.
Detained Saudi activist Essa al-Nukhaifi has been forcibly disappeared since 15 October, when he announced that he was going on hunger strike in protest against his continued detention despite serving his full sentence. His family members have not been allowed any contact with him or received news about his fate. Another Saudi political prisoner, Sheikh Khalid Al Rashid has not been released despite completing his 15-year prison sentence two years ago. Instead, he was re-tried and given a new 23-year jail sentence. When he appealed, the sentence was raised to 25 years to make the total 40 years
The US State Department has decided that Saudi Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), cannot be sued while head of government. This decision highlights the Biden administration’s failure to seek accountability for MBS’s role in the brutal murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. On November 17, the State Department filed a statement of interest that “recognizes and allows the immunity of Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman as a sitting head of government of a foreign state.” The statement was submitted in a civil case filed in October 2020 by both Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancée, and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), against MBS and more than 20 other alleged coconspirators, seeking to hold them liable for Khashoggi’s murder. US intelligence in February 2021 revealed that MBS approved Khashoggi’s murder. Biden’s campaign promise to make Saudi authorities “pay the price” for Khashoggi’s heinous murder has not been met. MBS will read US policy as a “green light” to continue committing abuses at home and abroad while enjoying generous US support.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
23rd November 2022