Calls to indict Bahraini torturers, Pressure on Saudis to implement reforms
Several hundred native political prisoners have been released on orders from the khalifi dictator of Bahrain. For the past 13 years he has been ordering the unlawful detention and criminal torture of thousands of people for their peaceful opposition to his absolute dictatorship. Hundreds were killed, thousands tortured and many were exiled. The Bahraini regime was accused by its own BICI investigation commission of administering “systematic torture”. Calls have been made for his trial at an international tribunal for committing heinous crimes against humanity. Hundreds remain behind bars in his torture chambers. The freed prisoners have been urged by human rights activists and bodies to document their ordeals in details especially torture, ill treatment and unfair trials. The opposition has called for the escalation of the civil resistance movement to oust the illegal and oppressive hereditary dictatorship.
Before the releases that took place in the past two days, there were 1328 political prisoners. According to local human rights activists, 1277 were held in the two main prisons: Jau and Dry Dock. 51 were held in “open prisons”. None of these should have been detained in the first place and the order to detain thousands of native Bahrainis by the khalifi occupiers were considered null and void; those who issued them must be brought to justice in a court of law.
Bahraini women have continued their daily protest calling for the release of their loved ones from the khalifi torture chambers. Many political prisoners remain behind bars, many of them in need for urgent medical care. None of the leading political figures has been released. Mr Hassan Mushaima has been in severe pain for several weeks. It intensified in the past two days. He suffers from various ailments but the dictator has refused to release him or any of the other senior figures, many of whom have serious health issues.
The regime was forced to swallow the poison of releasing some prisoners when it became clear that its forces were unable to maintain law and order inside prisons. This followed a massive strike by the prisoners at the notorious Jau prison that threatened to expose the khalifi crimes to the world as never before. The month of Ramadan became a turning point in the struggle to end the hereditary dictatorship with several uprisings inside prisons as well as in the streets. Bahrainis became so angry following the martyrdom of a young protester in the khalifi jails. Hussain Al Ramram died on 25th March following his “release” after serving 8 years of 15-year prison sentence. His martyrdom caused a serious political uproar that could have led to serious consequences to the illegal hereditary dictatorship.
There were protests in many towns and village including: Demstan, Duraz, Karbabad, Bani Jamra, Sanabis, Abu Saiba and Shahrakkan. These protests were combined with similar demonstrations calling for the liberation of Jerusalem from the Israeli occupation. People became angry after the khalifi dictator signed political and security pacts with “Israel” in 2020 breaking the Arab front that banned diplomatic relations with “Israel”.
On 3rd April at least 28 human rights organisations signed a letter to Bahrain’s dictator about Dr Abdul Jalil Al Singace. Scholars at Risk joined 27 organizations in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace. Dr. Al-Singace has now been on a hunger strike for 1,000 days to protest the confiscation of his research documents. He was arrested in March 2011, only a few weeks after being released from his first detention in 2010.
On 5th April Front Line Defenders marked the birthday of one of Bahrain’s imprisoned senior political figures. It said in a statement: We are in Copenhagen today to mark the 63rd birthday of Danish-Bahraini HRD Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who spends his birthday in Jau prison in Manama. He has been arbitrarily imprisoned for 13 years. Every day he remains imprisoned is a day too many. Abdulhadi worked with Front Line between 2009 and early 2011, as the Protection Coordinator for the MENA region. He supported human rights defenders from all backgrounds, working for all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
During Saudi Arabia’s recent fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session, member states at the UN Human Rights Council made crucial recommendations addressing widespread rights violations in the country. These include: the release of prisoners of conscience, abolition of the death penalty for minors and a raft of legislative reforms. These recommendations, which have the potential to bring about significant change in the country, reflect input from human rights NGOs including ALQST, and we call on the Saudi authorities now to adopt and implement them.
Detained Saudi fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi has now been forcibly disappeared for 150 days. Saudi authorities have denied her any contact with her family or the outside world and refused to give any information about her whereabouts. Three years ago, Saudi aid worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan was sentenced to 20 years in prison for peaceful tweets. Since October 2021, he has been forcibly disappeared. His sister, Areej AlSadhan addressed his case, and urged the Saudi authorities to free her brother.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
10th April 2024