US Congress Calls for Report from State Department on Political Prisoners in Bahrain

President Joe Biden has signed into law a legislation that calls for an accounting by the US State Department of its efforts to free political prisoners in Bahrain.

The Statement accompanying the Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act states, “Not later than 60 days after the enactment of the Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations, which may be in classified form if necessary, detailing efforts made on behalf of political prisoners in Bahrain and the Government of Bahrain’s response.”  Support for the Act was bipartisan.

The report was originally called for by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The House Appropriations Committee had adopted language encouraging, “the Department of State to prioritize working with the Government of Bahrain to make meaningful progress toward establishing democratic institutions and holding accountable those responsible, including in the armed forces and Ministry of Interior, for human rights violations. 

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ADHRB calls on the international community to speak up about Saudi Arabia’s recent mass execution

On 23 March, ADHRB has delivered an oral intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 49 under item 4, during the General debate. ADHRB calls on the international community to speak up about Saudi Arabia’s recent mass execution.

Mr. President,

ADHRB would like to thank the UN High Commissioner for her statement condemning the mass execution of 81 individuals by beheading in Saudi Arabia on 12 March. 41 of those belonged to the Shia minority and had participated in the pro-democracy demonstrations of 2011. We support the declaration that their execution may amount to a war crime in light of the lack of guarantees for fair trial.

On the other hand, we are raising caution about the fate of Sadeq  Majeed Thamer and Jaafar Mohamed Sultan who face imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia. The two Bahrainis were previously sentenced to life imprisonment in Bahrain ion terrorism-related charges. Saudi authorities arrested them on 8 May 2015 and forcibly disappeared them for 115 days, while allegations of torture and violations of due process rights were ignored. They were sentenced to death on 7 October 2021 on the same charges. They face imminent risk of execution.

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Abduljabbar Isa Mohamed

Abduljabbar Isa Mohamed was a 20-year-old Bahraini worker at a McDonald’s when he was arrested without a warrant in November 2021. He was consequently tortured and subjected to fair trail violations. He is currently in Dry Dock Detention Center awaiting the issuance of the judgment against him.

On 22 November 2021, officers in civilian clothing and riot police arrested Abduljabbar from the street after the end of his shift in the Juffair region without presenting an arrest warrant or providing a reason for his arrest. Abduljabbar was not summoned prior to his arrest nor wanted by the authorities. His arrest was part of a series of arrests conducted by authorities on the same day in several areas such as Al-Aker, Duraz, and Nuwaidrat.

Abduljabbar was taken to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID). He was held there for two weeks, during which time he would call for a few seconds to tell his family he was in the CID and that he was alright before the call would be cut off. During interrogation, Abduljabbar was interrogated without the presence of his lawyer, and officers subjected him to severe beating, threatened to arrest his brothers, and was threatened by electric shocks and raping. They forced him to sign the investigation record prepared in advance without reading it under death threats. They also subjected him to discriminatory treatment on the basis of his sect. He was told, “let Iran benefit you.”

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