Fear for disappeared Bahraini inmates, Saudi activist to sue UAE
Up to 66 political prisoners are currently subjected to enforced disappearance at Jau Prison in Bahrain. They have been incommunicado since riot police violently suppressed a ‘sit in’ on 17 April. The protest was held by inmates at Buildings 12,13 and 14 against punitive restrictions introduced following the death of Abbas MalAllah earlier this month amid reports of medical negligence, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) and Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) stated yesterday. An inmate has confirmed that a total of 66 prisoners were transferred to Building 15 after the attack, including 19 from Building 12, 35 from Building 13 and 12 from Building 14, none of whom has been seen or heard from since. During the attack, police released tear gas in the corridors and threw sound grenades into crowded cells, while eyewitnesses saw police beat inmates and throw them repeatedly to the ground face-first, leaving two prisoners, Sayed Alawi Alwadaei and Saeed AbdulEmam, with serious injuries.
The injuries of the political prisoners have led to anxiety among their families. Ahmad Mirza was beaten and led away to unknown location. He suffers sickle cell disease. Nothing has been heard from him since. The mother of Sayed Adnan Majed Adnan has not heard from her son since the attack. The mother of Sayed Redha Sayed Ali Mahfood wants to know the fate of her son. So does the mother of Hassan Ali Al Sheikh. Former political prisoner, Mahdi Abu Deeb has expressed grave concern for the well safety of another political prisoner Mohammad Al Shamali. He was severely injured in the events of 10th March 2015. He was also tortured several times a day but remained steadfast and smiling. His mother has genuine fears for his safety. Another worrying case is that of Khalil Al Saffar who was severely beaten by khalifi torturers on 17th April. He was pleading for the torturer to stop but his cries were not heeded. His family are extremely worried since his forced disappearance. Former prisoner, Ali Muhanna has been fined £4000 after calling for his jailed son’s release. Earlier three brothers were also fined £4000 for calling for the release of their jailed brother, Mohammad Al Daqqaq.
Fourteen UK MPs have signed and Early Day Motion (EDM) calling for the application of the Magnitsky Law on the Bahraini torturers. The signatories expressed concern about the detention last month of 13 children and subjecting them to degrading treatment including Hussain Abdul Rasool, Faris Hussain, Mohammad Jaffar and Sayed Hassan Amin. Their offences include protesting against the F1 race. They also expressed indignation at the role played by the oversight bodies. They urged the UK government to stop training these bodies.
Prominent Saudi activist Loujain Al-Hathloul announced that she had filed a complaint against the UAE for espionage, kidnapping and illegal seizure of her car. Al-Hathloul’s complaint against the UAE relates to her arbitrary arrest in 2018 and extradition to the Saudi authorities. Al-Hathloul announced the continuation of her struggle after her release, including appealing the judgments against her, objecting to the Supreme Court against her travel ban, and submitting a complaint about UAE violations. According to documents presented by Al-Hathloul, Abu Dhabi Police sold her car for not answering calls while she was in prison. These violations include kidnapping from the UAE and torture in a secret Saudi prison.
Fears are growing that a Saudi young woman has been detained. Manar Al-Yami, a young Saudi woman, is known for the videos she publishes on her social media pages. Manar has many positions, including her attack on the authorities in Saudi Arabia and her rejection of the situation that women live there. Manar published a video attacking what is known as the Sahwa in Saudi Arabia and the former King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz. Not long after, Manar returned with another video, in a different way, to apologize for what she had said and to offer the loyalty of obedience to the ruler. The contradiction between the first and second videos sparked many reactions and fears of pressures that Manar was subjected to, while others warned that she might have been arrested.
Deutsche Welle website has said that arms exports to the UAE encourage repression and tyranny in the region. It highlighted in a report that the US and its European allies account for nearly three quarters of all arms transfers to the Middle East and North Africa. Experts say that arms exports to the countries in the region led by the UAE fuel conflict and human rights violations.
On 27th April, Fitch, the ratings agency, said that last year’s sharp drop in oil prices will leave most governments in the Gulf with deficits this year. But deficits will remain high, particularly in Kuwait and Bahrain. “We expect only Abu Dhabi and Qatar to eke out fiscal surpluses,” Fitch said in a report. “High fiscal break-even oil prices illustrate the scale of the public finance reform challenge and mostly remain well above current or forecast oil prices.”
Bahrain Freedom Movement
28th April 2021 (info@vob.org, www.vob.org)