Bahrain rejects key HRC’s recommendations, Saudi women strike in jail
On 24th March The Human Rights Council adopted the Universal Periodic Review outcome of Bahrain. The President said of the 245 recommendations received, 172 enjoyed the support of Bahrain, and 73 were “noted”. It was recommended that Bahrain ratify the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol, and advance comprehensive legislation against discrimination in all areas. Bahrain should continue to implement the economic vision 2030 and promote sustainable economic and social development. The State should also continue to promote freedom of opinion and expression by making appropriate amendments to the press and electronic media law. It was regretful that Bahrain had only noted and not accepted all recommendations calling on it to admit United Nations Special Procedures; Bahrain needed to reverse this decision. Many speakers supported the adoption of Bahrain’s Universal Periodic Review outcome by consensus. The Khalifi regime’s rejection of key recommendations is confirmation that it is not fit to rule Bahraini natives who will continue to suffer under this cruel regime.
On Monday 27th March regime’s courts confirmed earlier sentences on ten people who had attempted to escape from the khalifi torture chambers. Three have life imprisonment on their head: Ahmad Al Hadi, Ahmad Al Shaikh and Hussain Al Shaikh. The other seven had been sentenced to seven years: Hussain Muhanna, Ammar ِAbdul Ghani, Hussain Ayyad, Hussain Al Mo’min, Yasser Al Mo’min, Ahmed Al Qubaiti and Aqeel Abdul Rasool. The regime’s courts have also renewed the detention of Sayed Ahmed Ra’ed Al Mousawi for further 14 days for holding views on human rights and political reforms that the khalifis reject.
Imprisoned Bahraini-Danish human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has again been prevented from seeing a cardiologist on 26th March despite being at serious risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, has reiterated calls on Manama to grant Al-Khawaja access to medical treatment after authorities failed to follow through on his appointment with a cardiologist.
Amnesty International has documented the torture and ill-treatment of at least six Bahraini detainees, including Ahmed Jaber Ahmed whose illness left him unable to walk or dress himself following an 11-month delay in medical treatment. Political prisoners have continued raising their voices against their ill-treatment at the hands of the regime’s prison officers. Mohammed Al Raml has begun a hunger strike after they continued to deny him proper medical treatment for his various ailments. Mohammed Abdul Wahid Al Najjar has accused the top officials of giving the green light to the jailers to ill-treat the prisoners of conscience.
Irish activist Tara Reynor O’Grady has tweeted: The indigenous people of Bahrain island, the 500,000 Baharna each have at least one family member in prison for opposing or representing some form of perceived threat to the AlKhalifa regime since 2011. This is how many of them experience Ramadan. We don’t forget the prisoners.
The Saudi authorities are pursuing a vicious campaign of arrests and prosecutions against members of the Huwaitat tribe who objected to their forcible eviction in 2020 for construction of Neom project in the North West of the country. They sentenced 14 members of the tribe, including one woman, to prison terms of between 15 and 50 years. At least three more have been sentenced to death for peacefully resisting the forcible displacement of their tribe and speaking out against the injustices inflicted on them by the Saudi authorities. Earlier in the campaign they killed Abdul Rahim Al Huwaiti who had spearheaded the campaign. The authorities have illegally displaced the region’s inhabitants, primarily members of the Huwaitat tribe, without adequate compensation or offering alternative housing.
Saudi Arabia has also sentenced a blind woman, Sakeena al-Othman, to 40 years in prison. Several other women were also handed lengthy jail terms on similar charges including HR activist Salma al-Shehab, who was given a 27-year sentence for tweeting.Meanwhile, Salma al-Shehab and seven other detained women have begun a hunger strike. Salma (a University of Leeds student) was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison over her tweets (reduced from 34) and is among a number of women handed lengthy jail terms on similar charges. They are protesting their detention and sham trial and demanding their release.
It has been reported that the Saudi authorities have detained Sheikh Faraj Al-Suhaibi, who stopped posting on all his social media accounts last October. The arrest surprised many as the Sheikh is mainly concerned with sectarian differences than the regime’s policies. Pro-Saudi verified account is brazenly trying to locate a Saudi dissident in London! The same account has threatened to hurt and haunt and hunt the same dissident who defected from the Saudi police this month and took refuge in the UK.
Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) has called on Saudi Arabia to establish strong legislative frameworks. In its presentation at the ongoing session of the Human Rights Council ADHRB said these must be compatible with international human rights law in order to support the rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to peaceful assembly.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
29th March 2023