UN: release Bahraini prisoners, German philosopher rejects UAE award

The Covid-19 pandemic is spreading among native Bahraini political prisoners faster than the regime would admit. Yesterday at least nine cases were confirmed at the Dry Dock prison. More than 25 cases have been confirmed at Bloc 19 of the notorious Jau Prison. An inmate, Sayed Mohammad Al Sari, confirmed this number and pleaded for immediate help: “Our situation is dire”, he said in a phone call to his family. Hussain Ali Hassan Khamis is one of the infected inmates Bloc 19. The daily protests by the families of the political prisoners have continued unabated since they started a month ago. More than 24 protests were documented daily as the regime refuses to release native political prisoners despite calls from the UN and international human rights bodies.
The ramifications of the khalifi vicious attack on prisoners on 17th April have continued as scores of prisoners remain forcibly disappeared. Most of them were severely injured in the attack which was condemned by many. Ali Abdul Karim who is serving life sentence for opposing the hereditary dictatorship has not contacted his wife since 13th April He was severely tortured on 17th April and has been forcibly disappeared. Another inmate, Hussain Jaffar Al Saari was set upon by up to 20 of the attackers who beat him with truncheons at sensitive areas of his body until he fell down unconscious. He was then chained and pulled to an upper floor as beating continued and taken to unknown location.
The United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) said: We are disturbed by the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force to dismantle a peaceful sit-in at Jau prison. At a press briefing on 30th April, Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on Bahrain’s government to immediately launch a “thorough and effective” investigation into the violent repression of the sit-in at Jau prison, located south of the capital, Manama, on April 17. She cited accounts by witnesses who reported that “special forces threw stun grenades and beat detainees on their heads, badly injuring many of them”. Hurtado also said authorities reportedly took 33 protesters “to another building in the prison, where they are being kept incommunicado, and have been unable to make contact with families or lawyers, in violation of both national and international law”. The OHCHR said that lack of healthcare in overcrowded Bahraini prisons “has been an issue for years but has become a chronic problem” during the coronavirus pandemic. “The spread of the pandemic in Bahrain’s prisons has sparked protests across the country. In response, the authorities have detained dozens of protesters for “breaching COVID-19 restrictions,” Hurtado said. The UN body also called on authorities to provide timely medical treatment for inmates and urged authorities to consider releasing more detainees to ease prison congestion. “In particular, those being detained for expression of critical or dissenting views, protected by international human rights law, should be released immediately,” Hurtado said.
The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) has received
multiple testimonies that Ali AlZaki, Sayed Mohammed AlAbbar and Khalil AlSaffar had sustained injuries
from excessive use of force by police at Jau Prison. They remain subject to enforced disappearance are.
On 2nd May the prominent German philosopher Juergen Habermas said he will not accept a high-priced literary
award from the United Arab Emirates, reversing an earlier decision. The 91-year-old, who is considered Germany’s most eminent contemporary philosopher, told the German news site Spiegel Online that “I declared my willingness to accept this year’s Sheikh Zayed Book Award. That was a wrong decision, which I correct hereby.” In the statement, which his publisher Suhrkamp Verlag passed on to Spiegel Online, Habermas added “I didn’t sufficiently make clear to myself the very close connection of the institution, which awards these prizes
in Abu Dhabi, with the existing political system there.”
On 29th April The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) expressed concerns that Saudi jailed human rights defenders are denied proper medical treatment for illnesses including Covid-19, particularly after prominent human rights defender Dr. Mohammed Al-Qahtani contracted the virus. On 20th April his wife, Maha Al- Qahtani tweeted: “I would like to tell everyone that my husband, Dr. Mohammed Al-Qahtani, called us after 14 days of no communication and reassured us that he is recovering from his infection with the Coronavirus”. On the same day, the family had said in a video clip that Dr Al-Qahtani had been denied proper medical care. They
recalled the death of his companion, prominent human rights defender Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamid, behind bars on the first anniversary of his death. He died on 24th April 2020, after the authorities deliberately kept him without
adequate treatment in the intensive care unit, which led to his death.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
5th May 2021 (info@vob.org, www.vob.org)