Unable to hide its human rights abuses, Bahrain the focus of UN scrutiny in 2022

In 2022, human rights violations in Bahrain were repeatedly the focus of the United Nations Special Procedures offices and the bodies responsible for monitoring the implementation of international treaties and agreements.

The UN working group on arbitrary detention issued opinions on the cases of political prisoners it considered to be arbitrarily detained by the Bahraini government, calling for their immediate release and compensation. A number of UN Special Rapporteurs also sent joint letters of allegation to the Government of Bahrain, the most prominent of which was the case of human rights defender Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace. Dr Al-Singace – imprisoned for life for his pro-democracy activism – was also mentioned by the UN Secretary-General in his annual report on reprisals against human rights defenders.

Reviews of Bahrain’s implementation of the recommendations of the Committee on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) were conducted, as well as a review of Bahrain by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on the government’s continued violations of human rights in multiple levels of Bahraini society.

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Join Letter: Free Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace after a year and half of hunger strike

We, the undersigned, write to you once more concerning the case of Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, an academic, award-winning activist and blogger who is serving a life sentence in Bahrain solely for exercising his human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. On 14 December 2022, the European Parliament adopted an urgency resolution calling for the release of Al-Singace, alongside other prisoners, “who have been detained and sentenced for merely exercising their right to freedom of expression.”

On 13 August 2022, we wrote to you regarding Al-Singace and respectfully urged you to secure his immediate and unconditional release, and in the meantime, ensure that he receives adequate health care, be protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and that his academic work be transferred to his family. To date, none of our requests have been met or acknowledged, and Al-Singace’s situation remains one of increasing concern.

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Husain Abdulla Marhoon Rashed

Husain Abdulla Marhoon Rashed is a 31 years old bahraini from Al Diraz, who was warrantlessly arrested in 2017, tortured and charged in a terrorist case. He faced numerous violations in fair trial procedures, which led him to confess to the charges brought against him. He was sentenced to death, and after exhausting all legal remedies, is currently on the death row at Jaw prison where he faces the risk of execution at any moment.

Previously, Husain was arrested several times before his final arrest in 2017. He was arrested in 2008 for participating in the Martyr’s Day demonstration and then again arrested in December 2011, when he participated in a peaceful protest in Al-Dara town. He was detained for months. Hussein was arrested for the last and third time on 28 June 2017, by officers in civilian clothing, officers from the Ministry of the Interior and officers of the National Security Agency while he was sleeping. They raided the house without the permission of the Public Prosecution and without the permission of the owners of the house. Husain was asleep during the raid; they woke him up and isolated him in one of the house’s rooms. He was beaten, blindfolded and taken to a car where he was beaten again and electrocuted.

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Ahmed Abdulla Marhoon Rashed

Ahmed Abdulla Marhoon Rashed is a 34-year-old Bahraini from Diraz, who was the goalkeeper for Al-Itifaq club and the Bahraini national football team. He was warrantlessly arrested from his home, charged in the terrorism case known as “Al-Ashtar Brigades,” and is currently detained at Dry Dock Detention Center awaiting the court verdict.

Ahmed was initially arrested  on 7 August 2012 by armed officers. They raided his house at dawn and arrested him under the pretext that he was wanted by the police. Following his arrest, his family called the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID), the Public Prosecution Office (PPO), and the Roundabout 17 police station, who all reported that Ahmed was not with them.  Two days after his arrest, Ahmed called his family asking for clean clothes to be brought to him at the Dry Dock Detention Center. After this, he was transferred to the CID where the officers there tortured him. They prevented him from sleeping, forced him to stand for more than 6 days, and falsely accused him of a role in the “Diraz explosion” case. 

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Ebrahim Yusuf AlSamahiji

Ebrahim Yusuf Ali Ebrahim AlSamahiji is a 46 year old Bahraini from Al Freij, who was warrantlessly arrested in 2015, tortured, and charged in a terrorist case known as the “Nuwaidrat warehouse case”. He is currently serving his sentence at Jau prison.  

On 15 October 2015, police cars and masked officers in civilian clothing surrounded Ebrahim’s house.  He was arrested while he was asleep at home with his wife and children. The masked officers did not present an arrest warrant or state the reason for the arrest. They searched the house and confiscated electronic devices including cellphones and computers. He was led by the officers, some of whom were holding cameras, to a small black bus with tinted windows.  

Ebrahim was disappeared for 23 days, starting from the time of his arrest at 3 am at the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID). He managed to call his family when he arrived at the CID to let them know his location and then the line was cut. After 23 days he was able to place a second call but unable to tell them what happened and what he was subjected to. 

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