More Bahrainis incarcerated, three Saudis beheaded
On 11th February regime’s courts issued a one-year prison sentence on Jassim Mohammed Jassim (from Abu Quwa town). He was accused of taking part in a protest and unauthorised assembly. Meanwhile, two young native Bahrainis have been detained by regime forces. Sajjad Al Jawhar and Sayed Hussain Al Mahafda were remanded in custody for one week. Regime’s prosecutors have extended the detention of four native Bahrainis. Ahmed Mahmood, Yasser Darwish (both from Sanabis town), Yousuf Ahmed (from Karbabad town) and Ali Al Sheikh (from Al Daih town) were given one more month in detention for taking part in a peaceful protest. The detention of political prisoner, Mahmood Al Usfoor from Duraz town was extended for one more week. He was detained on Friday for taking part in marking the anniversary of the 14th February Revolution.
The hunger strike by political prisoners of Bloc 3 at Jau Prison has continued for the past three days. Another prisoner, Muntadar Fawzi has joined them. The prisoners are protesting the banning of religious gatherings after they had held a celebration to mark the birth anniversary or one of the prophet’s grandsons on Thursday 13th February. Later, they issued a statement setting out their demands: To be allowed to practice their religious duties especially the mass prayers, the return of those currently in isolation and to improve the living conditions in the jail. These demands were re-iterated by other prisoners. Saleh Mohammed from Bloc 3 said they are on strike to demand their freedom, dignity and the right to exercise their religious duties.
On Sunday 16th February the jailers at Jau Prison transferred political prisoner Ahmed Shaker Al Shawk from his cell at Bloc 3 to an isolation cell. Three weeks ago he was forced to spend two weeks in isolation. On Saturday 15th February the officers at Jau Prison transferred political prisoner, Ibrahim Al Mu’min from his cell at Bloc 5 of the to an isolation cell without giving a reason or justification.
Yesterday the officers at the Exhibition Road police station called several native Bahrainis asking them to come for interrogation. Among them were Abdul Majid Abdulla (Hajji Sumood), Hajji Ali Hamman, Hajji Munir Mushaima, Hajji Ali Nasser and Mr Ali Muhanna.
The khalifi regime has deported 700 Pakistanis who had been naturalised and granted Bahraini nationality. Why? Because the khalifi rulers discovered that they belong to the Shia Muslim faith. This does not conform with their policy of demographic engineering in the country.
On 15th February the General Secretariat of the Arab Parties issued a statement in support of the people of Bahrain on the 14th anniversary of their Revolution. It called for the release of the political prisoners, the convening of a national dialogue to create national participation, safeguarding civil rights and discussing the political crisis engulfing the country. It also called for the continuation of the peaceful protests and condemned the regime for the suppression of the protests. It also hailed the rejection by the Bahraini people of the regime’s policy of normalisation with the occupiers of Palestine. It considered the Israeli presence in Bahrain “an illegal occupation that threatens the peace of the whole region”.
On 14th February thirty-one human rights organisations, including FIDH and OMCT within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, called on the European Union to urgently engage with Bahraini authorities to secure the release of Danish-Bahraini Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Swedish-Bahraini Sheikh Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad. Both have been arbitrarily detained for nearly 14 years, enduring torture and denial of medical care.
Today, the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed that it had executed two citizens for allegedly “betraying their country and adopting a terrorist ideology that allows shedding people’s blood, plundering their wealth and adopting terrorism”. The victims: Sa’ad ibn Saud Al Ju’aid and Abdul Rahman ibn Saleh Al Zahrani, both have Saudi nationality, were beheaded in Riyadh today. Another citizen, Ra’id bin Awad Al Amri was beheaded for hitting a woman with his car. She died as a result.
“The Dark Side of Neom: Expropriation, expulsion and prosecution of the region’s inhabitants” is a report produced by Alqst (a Saudi human rights body) on 16th February. It details the vicious campaign against members of the Huwaitat tribe who objected to their forcible eviction in 2020 for construction of a futuristic megacity, Neom. It is the flagship project of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, an ambitious programme to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil revenues. In order to proceed with the construction of Neom, the Saudi authorities have committed a wide range of serious human rights abuses. Alqst’s investigation has concluded that to realise this project, Saudi authorities have illegally displaced local tribes without adequate compensation or alternative housing and violently cracked down on members of the tribe who peacefully opposed or resisted eviction. Since the notorious killing of local resident Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti in a raid by the regime’s special forces on his home in 2020, ALQST has documented the arbitrary arrests and unfair trials of other members of the tribe, several of whom have recently been sentenced to lengthy prison terms or even execution.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
19th February 2025
