Arrests to mark Bahrain Independence Day, Calls to free Saudi prisoners

Today is the Independence Day of Bahrain. On this day in 1971 the British withdrew their forces from all areas East of Suez after 150 years of colonialism. Bahrainis often mark the event with aspirations and hope of a better future. Before the withdrawal they had hoped the country would witness a democratic transformation and an end to decades of the khalifi dictatorship that had been supported by the British. Those aspirations were short-lived. The country plunged into a dark era marked by lack of political participation, absence of rule of law, overcrowded prisons and extreme forms of torture. Today, Bahrainis are marking the day with new hopes as their struggle continues unabated.

On 7th August Bahraini youth, Hasshim Sharaf was handed by Iraq to the Kuwaiti authorities who threaten to hand him to the khalifi torturers. When his visa to Iraq expired he tried to renew it at the border. He crossed into Kuwait via Safwan crossing where he was detained by the Kuwait authorities. Mr Sharaf had been sentenced by the Bahraini regime to a total of 38 years for taking part in the pro-democracy movement. The Kuwaiti authorities have been urged by human rights activists not to hand this innocent young man to a vicious regime that observes no norms or values.

Two Bahraini youths, who set out to visit the holy shrine of Imam Hussain in Iraq, were arrested by Manama’s security services. Yasser Al-Sahhaf and Mojtaba Munir were detained when they tried to cross the border from Bahrain into neighboring Saudi Arabia. Yesterday two others were also arrested: Sayed Hassan Al Ghuraifi and Faisal Ramadan from Salmabad town were summoned to Roundabout 17 police station where they were detained.

Four more Bahraini youths were arrested on Tuesday for unknown reasons. Three of them, Hussein Saleh Al-Bari, Ali Salman Marhoon, and Mohammed Khatam, were chased by police through the streets of Sitra before being taken into custody. The fourth, Ali Omran, was ordered to appear for questioning and then detained. On Thursday 9th August, regime’s agents detained native Bahraini youth Yousuf Al Tawq, 17 from Sitra. He was summoned to appear at Ql-Qudaibiya police station.

Also, Sayed Qassim Sayed Ali, 16 from Isa town was arrested for taking part in a peaceful protest at Salmabad Housing. He was summoned to appear at Roundabout 17 where he was detained. Mahmood Abdullah Yousuf Aman, 16, from Ma’amir town was arrested on 7th August. His father received a phone call asking him to hand over his son to Sitra police station. From there he was transported to Qudaibiya police station.

The family of elderly Bahraini detainee Muhammad Al-Raml is once again sounding the alarm over his life-threatening health condition. Al-Raml is suffering from “internal bleeding.” Due to the severity of his condition, the 64-year-old was initially admitted to hospital for treatment and observation but has since been returned to Jau Prison. He is left to suffer a slow and painful death.

A number of families of political prisoners have asked the khalifi interior minister to tell them about the fate of their jailed children from whom they have not heard for a long time. They said he is personally responsible for their safety and welfare. Both the minister and the prison administrator have been accused of ill-treating the prisoners and must give the families assurances of their safety.

On Monday 5th  August political prisoner, Hussain Jassim Al Yousuf died in a Saudi prison as a result of extreme forms of torture and abuse. He was arrested in January 2023 and subjected to most horrific treatment at the hands of the Saudi torturers. Mr Al Yousuf, from Umm Al Hamam District of Qatif in Eastern Arabia, had been held at Dammam notorious prison.

In a letter to US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken 32 Democrat Senators and Members of Congress have urging them to press immediately for the unconditional release of prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia.  Describing the kingdom as “a theocratic police state”, the lawmakers expressed profound concern over the authorities’ continuing crackdown on freedom of expression, and the fate of “numerous people unfairly tried and incarcerated” in Saudi Arabia. They cited by name several human rights defenders and women’s rights advocates, some of them family members of US citizens, who have been jailed for decades or placed under travel bans as a result of the authorities’ “zero-tolerance” policy for critical political thought and dissent.  Among those named in the letter, dated 30 July 2024, are academic and human rights defender Mohammed al-Qahtani, humanitarian worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan and reformist cleric Salman al-Odah.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for the immediate release of two women unlawfully jailed by the Saudi authorities. Two years ago, Saudi courts sentenced Salma al-Shehab and Nourah al-Qahtani to prison terms of 34 years (reduced to 27) and 45 years, in connection to tweets in support of women’s rights.

Bahrain Freedom Movement

14th August 2024