Bahrain: 46 countries condemn regime, AI wants Saudis to stop execution of child

For the first time in the history of the Human Rights Council (HRC), many countries have signed up to a statement condemning Bahrain’s serious violations of human rights. While attempting to appear neutral the statement acknowledged regime’s attempts to show the world that it is implementing certain recommendations, but the statement is critical of most aspects of human rights that continue to be violated. Any spectator with an open mind will see that the Alkhalifa have received strong blows despite Saudi and British attempts to shield them from international condemnation. On behalf of the European Union, Greece told HRC that Bahrain should allow office of High Commissioner of Human Rights to operate in Bahrain with full mandate.

The statement said: the human rights situation in Bahrain remains an issue of serious concern to us. We are concerned about the increases in long sentences for exercising rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the lack of sufficient guarantee of fair trial. We are concerned about the repression of demonstrations. There are also concerns that peaceful demonstrations are frequently disrupted by a minority of violent demonstrators.

In response to the anticipated statement the regime had escalated its repression of Bahrainis. A 15-years boy was arrested this week as he was preparing for his exams. Yousuf Sahwan was snatched from his home at the town of Maqaba to join his cousins; Hussain and Mohammad Sahwan. The boy has only three exams to finish before he transfers to the secondary school. but he was denied the right to complete them. He is a player in Bahrain’s national team. His cousin, Hussain Sahwan, missed four exams to finish his secondary school. Yesterday a judge decided to hold him for 45 day.

On 5th June Alkhalifa court sentence four Bahrainis to life imprisonment on trumpeted charges. The regime alleged that they had participated in the killing of an Asian worker and that they are members of illegal organisation. They insisted that they had nothing to do with the crime and that their sentence is based on pre-prepared “confessions” signed under extreme forms of torture.

The ill-treatment by regime’s torturers has forced Ali Al Singace to go on hunger strike. He started his action ten years ago demanding his right to sufficient medical care for his ailments that are direct result of torture including back pain, broken nose and fractured knee. Three years ago he was sentenced to death on trumpeted charges.

Among the recently detained Bahrainis is Ali Al Aryash, from Duraz who disappeared few days ago. Yesterday he was allowed to make a brief phone call from the torture centre at Al Adliya. Another snatched Bahraini is Jassim Mohammad Abdulla, 27, from Al Malikiya. He called his family to tell them that he was being held at the notorious CID torture centre.

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) has issued a statement expressing concern about the health of an activist who had been subjected to most horrific treatment. BCHR said that the family of Redha Al Ghasra had contacted them and told them that their son faced the prospect of attracting a serious infectious disease. He has been placed at a cell with another inmate who has Pulmonary Tuberculosis, which is highly infectious. This comes after AlGhasra had already been subjected to different types of harassment, ill-treatment and reported torture.

Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action to highlight the plight of a Saudi national sentenced recently to death for an alleged crime that he had not committed. Ali Mohammad Baqir Al Nimr was seventeen when he allegedly committed these “crimes” including participating in a demonstration against the government, attacking security forces, possessing a machine-gun and armed robbery. The court has based its decision on singed “confessions” which had been extracted under torture. AI called  for investigation into allegations of torture, to observe the rights of Mr Al Nimr who falls within the children category and establish immediately an official moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing death sentences.

Bahrain Freedom Movement