Bahrain: Martyrs fathers, children detained, women remain in jail

As the daily protests sweep across Bahrain, the regime’s brutal forces have intensified their immoral attacks on civilians. Of particular concern is the detention and torture of the fathers of the martyrs for refusing to accept to sell their sons’ blood cheaply. On 22nd August, Abdul Hadi Mushaima, the father of the first martyr of the Revolution, Ali Mushaima’, was arrested by Alkhalifa torturers from his home at Daih Town. Also Ahmad Al Mawail, the father of Yousuf Al Mawali, who was tortured to death in January 2012, was detained on 23rd August.  He was taken to an unknown destination. The two have spearheaded the calls for action against those who had tortured their sons to death. Earlier this year, Jawad Al Sheikh, the father of martyr Ali Al Sheikh was detained for 50 days outside the due process of law.  These detentions have come at the backdrop of rising tension and intense public anger against the regime for continuing its atrocities agai nst native Bahrainis.

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) has, meanwhile, issued a report on the disappearance of the martyrs’ fathers. BCHR believes that both Ahmed Mowali and Abdulhadi Mushaima were targeted and detained for exercising their basic rights and publicly demanding justice for their killed sons. The BCHR has previously documented several cases of attacks on families of extra-judicial victims that included detention. On 26 October 2012, Jawad Al-Shaikh was arrested from a peaceful protest in Manama that demanded self-determination. Until this day, no has been held accountable for the death of his 14 year-old son Ali Alshaikh who was killed by police with a shot to his neck from behind on 31 August 2011. The BCHR called for the immediate release of those prisoners, ending the harassment and intimidation of relatives of human rights violations, bringing to justice those who had killed the martyrs and compensating the families of those martyrs.

A wave of public anger is sweeping the country for continuing to detain and torture Bahraini women who had committed no crime except exercising their right of expressing their opinion and calling for downfall of the hereditary dictatorship. Among them are Nadia Ali Yousuf, Zainab Al Khawaja, Rayhana Al Mousawi, Nafisa Al Asfoor, Halima Al Sabbagh and Siddiqa Al Basri. Nadia Ali Yousuf was supposed to be freed on Tuesday but the regime extended her detention further. She has one child who lives with other relatives. His father is also in jail.

The wave of arrests and detentions of Bahrainis has continued unabated. On Sunday 25th August, Ali Hassan Jaffar was abducted by masked men in civilian clothing from the town of Nuwaidrat. Nothing has been heard of him since. Another child, Mahmood Hamza Muwail, 16, was ordered to be detained for 45 days pending investigation for taking part in a peaceful demonstration. Two days ago a 14 years old child was detained.  Loai Al Sayed Abbas was summoned to the prosecution office, tortured there and arrested. Another child, Salman Mahdi, 14, was reported by Amnesty International to have been tortured and ill-treated since his abduction ten days ago. Over the past week 49 arrests were made during raids of people’s homes in Manama, Muharraq and other towns and villages. Twenty five areas were subjected to collective punishment with chemical gases and shoguns. At least ten Bahrainis were injured in those attacks. The Al Kheef Mosque in Dair Town was raided and worshippers attacked and ill-treated.

Bahrain Freedom Movment
30th August 2013