Eight pro-Gaza protesters Bahrainis jailed, Saudi activists imprisoned
On Monday 18th March five young Bahraini natives from the town of Markh, were detained by the khalifi security forces. Mujtaba Munir, Sayed Ali Sadeq, Sayed Mahdi Maitham, Sayed Mohammed Mahmood Mahfood and Sayed Hassan Essa were snatched from the “court” room after khalifi judge imposed a three-month sentence on them for opposing the hereditary dictatorship. On Monday 11th March regime’s courts imposed three months prison sentence on two natives: Sadeq Ibrahim Hbail from Sitra and Mahmood Abdulla Yosuf Aman from Ma’amir town. The two were taken away from the court room to the torture chambers.
On Saturday 16th March three young natives from the town of El Ekr were arrested by the regime’s security forces. Abdulla Abdul Zahra, Hussain Salah and Mahdi Abdul Latif were targeted for their anti-regime views.
Forty political prisoners at Bloc 9 of the notorious Jau Prison announced they were starting a hunger strike to protest the policy of isolation imposed on many inmates. From last Sunday they stopped taking their meals and declared their support to those taken into isolation. Also, inmates at corridors 2 and 3 of Bloc 5 declared their solidarity by refusing their meals. The political prisoners want to be separated from the common law prisoners and be allocated more humane cells.
On 18th March The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) published the opinion it adopted on 16 November 2023 during its 98th session concerning four elderly Bahraini opposition leaders. They had been arbitrarily arrested and subjected to torture, medical neglect, and other human rights violations according to a complaint filed by Americans for Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB). These leaders are: Hassan Mushaima, Sheikh Abdulla Isa Abdulla (Mirza) Mahroos, Abdulwahab Husain Ali Ahmed Ismaeel, and Sheikh Abduljalil Radhi Mansoor Makki (AlMuqdad). The Working Group found that their detention was arbitrary under Categories I (when it is impossible to invoke a legal basis justifying the deprivation of liberty), II (when the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of rights or freedoms), III (when violations of the right to a fair trial are so severe that the detention is rendered arbitrary), and V(when the detention is discriminatory based on religious and political beliefs).
The mother of political prisoner Ali Jaffar Ashoor has expressed serious concerns for not being allowed to see her son in the month of Ramadan. He is serving 12 years arbitrary prison sentence for opposing the khalifi dictatorship and has been moved to isolation.
On Saturday 16th March three young natives from the town of El Ekr were arrested by the regime’s security forces. Abdulla Abdul Zahra, Hussain Salah and Mahdi Abdul Latif were targeted for their anti-regime views.
Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur HRDs Hearing disturbing news that university student Sayed Hashem Al-Wadaei, the son of Bahraini woman human rights defender Hajar Mansoor, has been arbitrarily arrested detained and ill-treated on spurious charges apparently in retaliation for his mother’s peaceful activism
The mental and physical health condition of Bahraini political prisoner and torture victim Husain Ali Khamis Barbar is deteriorating as authorities ignore his family’s request for “alternative sentencing” that includes community service and home detention. According to the Washington-based American for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, Barbar is being denied proper medical treatment in prison despite suffering from frequent seizures and fainting. His family said he was perfectly healthy prior to his arrest and severe torture in 2014. They have since lodged two separate requests for alternative sentencing. The first was rejected in May 2022 and Bahrain’s interior ministry hasn’t yet responded to the one filed this month.
The Saudi Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) has issued a 15-year prison sentence against social activist Farhan Al-Shallaki. He was accused of tweeting his opinion which is not in line with the regime.
One year ago, the SCC Appeal Court upheld Hassan al-Faraj and Ali al-Mabiyouq’s death sentences, for offences they had allegedly committed as minors. Both are currently at imminent risk of execution, pending final rulings from the Supreme Court.
Six years ago, Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser was arrested from his home and forcibly disappeared. Since then, he has been denied all outside contact with the exception of two phone calls in 2020 and 2021. He remains disappeared. Human rights bodies including Alqst are calling for his immediate release.
The Saudi authorities have refused a hospital transfer for jailed human rights defenders. Waleed Abu al-Khair, has been deprived of the medical care that he needed. Abu al-Khair has been subjected to repeated ill-treatment in jail, including the denial of adequate medical care.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
20th March 2024