UN Working Group “Gravely Concerned” and Calls for immediate & Unconditional Release of Dr. Al-Singace

9 June 2023 - The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) adopted an opinion on 27 March 2023 and published on its website on 6 June 2023 concerning the case of Bahraini human rights defender and opposition leader Dr. AbdulJalil Al-Singace. The 61-year old activist was arrested in 2011, brutally tortured, and tried in an unfair trial. He was also subjected to countless violations during his imprisonment, including ill-treatment and medical negligence. The Working Group found that the detention of Dr. Al-Singace was arbitrary under Categories I, II, III, and V. The WGAD also expressed that it is “gravely concerned” for his health situation, which has been deteriorating as a result of his hunger strike he started in protest of ill-treatment. As such, the Working Group called for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Al-Singace and to ensure that he receives adequate medical care.

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9 June 2023 - The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has urged Bahrain to release a leading academic who has been on hunger strike without solid food for 700 days.

Abduljalil al-Singace, director and spokesperson of the Human Rights Bureau of the Haq Movement for Civil Liberties and Democracy, has been in jail since 2011, when he was sentenced to life in prison on terrorism allegations.

He began a hunger strike in July 2021 after the confiscation of his book on Bahraini dialects of Arabic - written by hand over four years - from his cell in Jaw prison, in eastern Bahrain.

In a report released on 25 May by a working group from the UN Human Rights Council, experts said Singace had presented a “credible” case of torture at the hands of the Bahraini government.

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The UAE’s Self-preservation: Imprisoning Democracy Activists, Human Rights Defenders & the UAE-94

Today, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) launched an international campaign urging the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to disclose the fate of at least 60 human rights defenders, civil society activists, and Emirati political dissidents known as the “UAE 94” group who have been arbitrarily detained since 2012 for their advocacy of advocating democratic reforms in the UAE. The campaign calls for their immediate and unconditional release.

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The escalating trend of medical negligence in Bahraini prisons has been observed recently, with a notable absence of effective external pressure to promote human rights in Bahrain from the allies of the ruling authorities, including both the American and European sides, who have historically been supportive of oppressive governments. Last year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that human rights issues in Bahrain were discussed during the visit of the Crown Prince of Bahrain to the United States for the first time since the beginning of the Biden administration on 28 February 2022. However, American officials have failed to raise concerns about the dire human rights situation in prisons and the continued detention of political prisoners, including those suffering from chronic illnesses and opposition leaders.

At the end of last month, on April 26, the United Kingdom hosted Bahrain’s Interior Minister Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, who is considered the main perpetrator of the violations suffered by political prisoners. Despite the condemnation from human rights advocates regarding this visit, no statement was issued by the British Foreign Office criticizing the policy of the Bahraini Interior Minister. Furthermore, there has been no discussion of the demands put forth by human rights organizations and the international community to put an end to these violations and the deliberate medical negligence in Bahraini prisons. The result of this is that the authorities in Bahrain are allowed to persist in their deliberate violation of human rights.

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Mohamed Ali Maki

Mohamed Ali Maki is a Bahraini student who was warrantlessly arrested in 2019 and has been subjected to multiple human rights violations on multiple occasions, including torture and unfair trial. He was charged in multiple cases and is currently serving his sentence at Dry Dock prison.

On 31 January 2019, Mohamed was arrested for the first time at the age of 15 years old. He was playing with his friends in the Shakhura area, and while he was tying his shoelace in a corner away from them, riot police snatched him by his hands and placed him in a jeep. They took him to Al-Badii police station, where he was held overnight. He was then taken to Hamad Town Police Station. After that, he was transferred to the AlQalaa Center and finally held in the Dry Dock detention prison for about a month or two, after which he was released on bail of 200 dinars.

On 23 November 2019, Mohamed was in the car with his mother heading to buy some things in the evening and then go to his grandfather’s house to spend the night. Suddenly, they were surrounded by civilian cars, who had been watching and tracking them. Mohamed was arrested by officers in civilian clothing from the Ministry of the Interior and intelligence services. He was handcuffed and put in a small car where there were other detained youths from other areas. A plain-clothes officer then returned, searched the car, and confiscated Mohamed’s telephone. When Mohamed’s mother asked him why and where they were taking him, he told her to the Central Investigation Department (CID) but did not say why.

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