Public outrage as pandemic threatens jails in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia
A letter from the notorious Bahrain’s Jaw Prison has been smuggled out to tell the world how the situation inside had become so dire as filth, lack of sanitation or medical care swept through its overcrowded corridors. The cells that had been designed for four inmates have up to 12 prisoners. The letter described the lack of humanity in the hearts of the khalifi dictators who are determined to let coronavirus disease spread further among the political prisoners. Mothers of detainees have continued their calls for their sons to be let out of the torture chambers, but to no avail. The mother of Mohammad Al Daqqaq who suffers from acute sickle cell disease has called on the regime to tell her about his fate. He has not been heard of for over ten days. He is serving 16 years sentence for opposing the hereditary dictatorship. The mother of Ali Abbas Abdul IthnaAshar from Duraz, was horrified when she saw her son’s condition after receiving a visual call from prison. She immediately cut off the line and shouted: What have you done to my son? Visual calls have replaced face-to-face visits which have been stopped because of the pandemic. Another inmate, Ali Al Ghanmi has also been disappeared after protesting the degrading treatment at the hands of the officials. When he complained that the torturers were not wearing masks during interrogation, one of them replied: We want you all infected. He was then led away for more torture.
The mother of Sayed Adnan Sayed Majid has appealed to local and international NGOs for action to free prisoners before the spread of coronavirus. Calls by women activists were made for the last woman prisoner of conscience, Zakiya Al Barbouri to be set free after serving more than two years behind bars for opposing the khalifi regime. The family of Ayman Naji who is serving life imprisonment imposed by khalifi tyrants for his opposition is calling on them to tell her about the fate of her other son, Salman after he was forcibly disappeared.
Many prisoners have now developed serious illnesses as a result of lack of medical care. Ali Sanqoor, has now lost his hearing completely. Despite his pleas for treatment for the past seven years prison officials denied him proper treatment. Hassan Ali Ibrahim Al Jouki has developed severe psychological complications after years of ill-treatment. He is gradually losing his memory.
A senior cleric has had his detention extended after five weeks in incarceration for presenting different view on history from what the regime holds. Sheikh Abdul Mohsin Mulla Atiya’s appeal session this week was postponed until 1st Junewhile he remains behind bars. Salman Naji, a native Bahraini has been remanded in custody for 15 days by regime’s prosecutors. He had been detained because he joined others chanting for the release of native Bahrainis incarcerated at khalifi torture dungeons. The death of a frontline activist on 19th April while helping the stranded Bahrainis in Iran has led to an outcry against the regime which has failed to help native Bahrainis stranded in other countries. Ahmad Al Karrani, a native Bahraini had volunteered to help his fellow countrymen in the holy city of Mashad and was infected with the disease. He was in his early thirties.
Last week human rights activist, Sayed Ahmed Al Wadaei was declared joint winner of Index on Censorship Award for his relentless efforts to defend native Bahraini victims of khalifi torture apparatus. “The price for expressing yourself in Bahrain is very high. I myself ended up in prison for speaking to the press during the Arab Spring and Bahrain has jailed members of my family to silence me,” he commented.
Bahrain which was rated junk by all the three major credit rating agencies, secured a loan of about $1 billion last month from a group of local and international banks and used it to repay $1.25 billion in bonds that matured on March 31. The government could post a fiscal deficit of 15.7% of GDP this year from a 10.6% deficit in 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund, while the economy could contract by 3.6%.
On 17th April Amnesty International said that the Saudi authorities must immediately release Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, a prisoner of conscience who remains in a critical condition after slipping into coma last week. He is a prominent human rights campaigner serving an 11-year sentence for his peaceful activism. On 9th April he suffered a stroke and is currently at the intensive care unit at al-Shumaisi Hospital in Riyadh. “It is heartbreakingly cruel that Dr Abdullah al-Hamid remains in detention, even while in a coma,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director.
On 17th April Human Rights Watch said: Saudi Arabia’s mass trial of 68 Jordanian and Palestinian residents raises serious due process concerns amid accusations of abuse. In March 2018, Saudi authorities carried out a wave of arrests targeting a group of long-term Palestinian and Jordanian residents in the country based on vague allegations of links with an unnamed “terrorist organization.” After holding some of the detainees for nearly two years without charge, Saudi authorities began a mass trial behind closed doors on March 8, 2020 at the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
22nd April 2020 (info@vob.org, www.vob.org)