NGOs urge an end to Bahraini detentions, a moratorium on Saudi executions
A native Bahraini has been detained after being summoned for interrogation. On Monday 3rd March, Ali Mohammed Mirza (from Barbar town) was given 15 days detention sentence. No punishable crime was committed by him. Also, regime forces arrested an exile upon his return to the country. Mahmood Al Sheghel (from Aali town) was detained at the airport and held for a long period. He returned home after spending 10 years in exile. Another citizen was arrested on Friday 28th February. Jaffar Ahmed Sarhan (from Nuwaidrat town). He was summoned by the CID. Before his arrest the regime’s security forces raided his home in the early hours of Friday. As he was not there a summons was given to his family. When he went to the CID offices he was detained. In February there were 32 documented political arrests, 12 of whom remain behind bars. Most were detained in the streets after peaceful protests.
On Sunday 2nd March the detention of Abul Fadl Shakir, from Al Maqsha town was extended seven more days. He was arrested on 28th February after being summoned by the CID office. The khalifi prosecutors have also extended the detention of two political prisoners, Ahmed Abdulla (from Karzakkan town) and Ali Al Zaaki (from Maqaba town) for two more weeks. They were detained on 22nd February after participating in a funeral.
Regime’s court have continued sending more young Bahrainis to jail for peaceful protests. This week four youths were given six months prison sentence for their pro-democracy activism. Abbas Al Majed, Abdul Aziz Hussain AlHamadi, Ali Al Matrook and Hussain Al Basri have been added to the long list of the prisoners of conscience languishing in khalifi jails.
Human rights activist, Ali Al Hajji has not been allowed to contact his family for several days. He has been recently moved to the Dry Dock prison. His wife is extremely anxious for his well-being. He was summoned by the CID officers who refused to tell him the reason. His detention has infuriated the human rights activists. Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders said: “I am very disturbed by reports that HRD Ali Al-Hajee was detained in Bahrain on Friday and questioned about his human rights work. He should be immediately released. The authorities should show they are serious about creating an enabling environment for HRDs”. Human Rights Watch has also called for his immediate and unconditional release.
On Monday 3rd March the political inmates at Bloc 3 of the Jau prison witnessed a flare-up of protests by the political prisoners. They are furious that the prison officials have not fulfilled earlier promises they had given in return for ending on 23rd February an earlier protest by the prisoners. The inmates refused to return to their cells from their daily outing and started to break their handcuffs. They wanted to meet the prison governor, Mazen Al Tamimi to urge him to fulfil those promises. But in the early hours of yesterday the security forces stormed the budling with the help of special forces. They sprayed the faces of the prisoners with a chemical material, beating and pulling them on the floor. But the prisoners continued their peaceful resistance by banging the doors of their cells.
The Saudi authorities have confirmed that they had beheaded two Egyptians for allegedly dealing in Amphetamine drugs. The two: Hani Abul Qassim Mohammed and Suleiman Ubaidullah Hamid, both holding the Egyptian nationality were sentenced to death by the Special Criminal Court. Its decision was subsequently approved by a royal signature. There were several pleas to the Saudi authorities not to implement the execution verdict. 17 Human Rights NGOs had expressed serious concerns as the execution of tens of people was imminent for what they called “charges that do not cause death linked to drugs”. They also criticised the judicial processes that lack fairness and violate the basic human rights. In a statement on 14th February the NGOs said that two UN Special Rapporteurs on Execution and Torture had appealed to Saudi Arabia in December urging its leaders not to executed them and to grant them a fair trial that grants them lesser sentences.
Saudi fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi, who is serving an 11-year jail term for supporting women’s rights, remains forcibly disappeared. A petition by Global Citizen network and Alqst for Human Rights is calling on the Saudi authorities to free Manahel has so far been signed by 2000 people.
Alqst for Human Rights has expressed alarm about the continued detention of and charges against Ahmed Al Doush, 41. He holds British nationality and has been in detention since 31st August. He is not known for his active opposition to the Saudi regime although he had written a tweet several years ago about his native country, Sudan. He also has some links with the son of a known Saudi opposition figure in exile. On 16th December 2024 his lawyers submitted a complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention about the condition of his detention and the lack of due process in the whole case.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
5th March 2025
