Four Members of Parliament (MPs) for France drew the attention of the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain. There has been mounting pressure from French MPs in the last few months, encouraging the French government to speak out against the continued human rights violations in Bahrain. This pressure shows a positive step towards increased awareness on both the domestic and international level, making it more likely that foreign governments will take more decisive action against Bahrain. The four MPs to draw attention to this situation were; Mr Gerard Leseul, Mr Jean-Chistophe Lagarde, Ms Isabelle Rauch and Mr Dominique Potier.

Mr. Gerard Leseul is a member of the sustainable development and regional planning committee, and a member of the socialist party. In his statement, Mr. Leseul drew the attention of the Foreign Minister to the respect of human rights in Bahrain and, more specifically, to the detention of political opponents. Mr. Leseul referred to the regime’s increasingly repressive human rights violations following the violent shutdown of the 2011 Arab Spring, and the continued reprisals faced by those who speak out about human rights violations. Mr. Leseul referred directly to the case of Kameel Juma Hasan, the 17-year-old son of former prisoner Najah Ahmed Yusuf, who have both faced reprisals for their refusal to become informers for the State Security Service. Dozens of Shiite civic, religious and political figures remain in detention, many of which have been detained since 2011 for their participation in the pro-democracy movement. Mr. Leseul referred specifically to Ali Salman, leader of Bahrain’s largest legal political movement between 2006 and 2011, who is still serving a life sentence handed down in 2018 on trumped-up charges of “spying” for Qatar. The case of Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace was also highlighted, as one of the 13 opposition activists arrested and subsequently convicted by a military court in 2011. According the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, Dr. Al-Singace has been subjected to brutal torture and degrading treatment; treatment for which he began a hunger strike in protest against on 8 July 2021. Dr. Al-Singace suffers from several chronic illnesses, including post-polio syndrome and a musculoskeletal condition. The international community has consistently called for his immediate and unconditional release, including the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders, leading international human rights organisations and US, UK and European legislators. Mr. Leseul also referred to the continued denial of access to its territory for human rights monitors, with specific reference to the denials of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and UN human rights bodies during 2020. Comments were additionally made to Bahrain’s involvement in the Saudi-led coalition in the armed conflict in Yemen, particularly considering the prevalence of the humanitarian situation in Yemen on the current agenda of the Human Rights Council. Considering the above, Mr. Leseul questioned the Foreign Minister on France’s position on these various human rights violations, and whether diplomatic actions are currently underway to encourage the country to respect fundamental human rights

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Your highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan,

As the Expo Dubai 2020 opens for six months starting on 1 October 2021 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the motto “Connecting Minds and Creating the Future through sustainability, mobility and opportunity”, we the undersigned call on the Emirati authorities to demonstrate their commitment to these values by releasing all imprisoned human rights defenders and activists, detained in violation of their right to freedom of expression.

We further call on the UAE authorities to comply with international standards for prisoners, including by allowing regular family visits, access to healthcare and regular consultations with their lawyers, and ending the practice of holding them in solitary confinement.

Approaching ten years behind bars, the group of pro-democracy advocates, known as the “UAE 94”, remain unjustly jailed for signing an online petition calling for political reform in 2011. Following a grossly unfair mass trial, 69 members of the UAE 94 were sentenced to between seven and 15 years, including eight in absentia. They are held in Al-Razeen prison, a maximum-security facility in the desert of Abu Dhabi, where activists, government critics and human rights defenders are commonly held. They face arbitrary and unlawful disciplinary measures, such as solitary confinement, deprivation of family visits, and intrusive body searches.

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Mohamed Ali Mohsen Baddaw, a Bahraini high school student, was only 19 years old when he was arbitrarily detained in 2016, preventing him from completing his studies. He is currently serving his prison sentence in Jau prison where he is being denied medical attention for his Vitiligo. He also was subjected to torture and ill-treatment on multiple occasions.

Mohamed had been wanted by authorities, who pursued and threatened him for 3 years. He was in fact sentenced to 6 years in prison before his arrest on 16 January 2016, when a large group of riot police arrested him at gunpoint at AlEttifaq Sports Club near his house without presenting a warrant. They then took him in a civilian car, beat him while he was handcuffed and blindfolded, and drove him to the Budaiya police station.

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