Pro-Palestine Bahrainis tried and jailed, Report documents Saudi HR
Another trial involving Bahrainis jailed for taking part in pro-Palestine protests has been adjourned until later this month. The eight defendants, Hussein Rabie, Hussein Abbas Saeed Al-Alawi, Abbas Aqeel Hani, Muhammad Hussein Ahmed, Ali Hassan Al-Ekri, Abdulrahman Al-Husseini, Mahdi Sadiq Al-Nayem, and Ali Hussein Abdullah Ahmed, have been in detention since late October.
Bahraini political detainee Mohammed Abdulamir is being denied treatment for convulsions. The uncontrollable shaking is causing Abdulamir to lose his balance and fall. Convulsions are common in epileptic seizures. Last March, Abdulamir had to be hospitalized after a severe seizure almost killed him. Another detainee Husain Ali Saad, who endured years of torture and suffers from severe sickle cell anemia, is being denied medical treatment. The Jau Prison administration and the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman office have been ignoring Saad’s deteriorating health for an entire year.
The khalifi security forces have arrested a young man for his participation in anti-regime protests back in 2010. Ali Abd Ali has been on the run ever since, and despite being granted a royal pardon, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia. Ali was detained after police raided a house in the village of Al-Musalla in the early hours of Sunday. He was taken to the torture-tainted Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID).
The ongoing denial of proper medical care for the political prisoners has become a serious cause for concern to the extent that their families have started to take desperate steps to put an end to it. One of the first political prisoners during the 14th February Revolution is facing a grim situation as his health continues to deteriorate in prison. Hamad Yousuf Kadhem is particularly persecuted by the khalifis and is denied treatment for his severe form of the Gout disease. The mother of another young political prisoner, Maitham Mahmood Ahmed Salman, 18 has been protesting outside the notorious CID headquarters. She is demanding his release arguing that he had been already released from the Nabih Saleh police station after he was proven innocent. But the khalifi secret service detained him again on trumped up charges.
The khalifi rulers of Bahrain have banned support of or fund raising for the Palestinians. Recently 30 NGOs including political societies signed a statement criticizing the regime’s ban on pro-Palestine campaigns. The statement, championed by the Bahraini Initiative Against Normalisation with Israel called on the ruling family to end its links with the occupiers of Palestine. On the other hand the regime has allowed a music group called “Maroon 5” to perform at the Dana Theare, despite its open support of Israel. It had performed at the town of Jarisha which was ethnically cleansed in 1948. Its main singers, Adam Levin, who is American, is an open supporter of the Israeli occupation.
The national debt of Bahrain is steadily increasing, thanks to the bad fiscal policies of the regime and the extravagance of the khalifi clan. It now stands at over 24 billion Bahraini Dinar ($64 billion). This is an increase of 1.1 billion Bahraini Dinar during 1923 and represents 120percent of GDP.
An article on the 13th anniversary of Bahrain’s Revolution appeared on “The Oxford Middle East Review “ published on 6th January. It was written by Insiya Raja and Brian Dooley and titled “13 Years On: Bahrain’s Post-Revolution Repression Continues”. It says: “Wednesday, February 14, marks thirteen years to the day since hundreds of thousands of peaceful protestors took to the streets in Bahrain, demanding democracy and an end to corruption. The protests were met with a violent government crackdown. Many opposition and protest leaders are still in prison, falsely convicted of being terrorists. The Kingdom’s ruling family curbed the internal backlash and were left unscathed despite committing a series of serious crimes. The monarchy remains in power today, largely because of its loyalty to military allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom.”
An overview of the human rights in Saudi Arabia has been highlighted by a report by a Saudi human rights body. ALQST’s Annual Report for 2023 highlights the widening gap between the official narrative and the harsh reality of human rights abuses in the country. It says that the autocratic leadership intensified its efforts to promote a narrative of technologically innovative social and economic transformation, and to pursue control, through ambitious purchases of globally popular sports like football and golf. Yet behind the dazzling projections of cyber-smart cities and entertainment, the harsh reality was that widescale violations of the rights of Saudi citizens and residents continued as before.
Saudi activists have called for the released of Fahad Ramadan, Saudi-born of Yemeni origin who was arrested on 20th November after he had criticised the Saudi crown prince on Whatsapp. His family lives in Holland as a refugee and holds Dutch travel document and his continued detention is abhorrent.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
7th February 2024