| الجمعية البحرينية لحقوق الانسان -
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Dr.
Abduljalil al-Singace is a prisoner of conscience and a member of the Bahrain
13, a group of activists arrested by the Bahraini government for their role in
peaceful protests in 2011. Dr. al-Singace is a blogger, academic, and former
Head of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bahrain. Dr. al-Singace is
currently serving a life sentence ordered by a military court on 22 June 2011.
The
Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry met with Dr. al-Singace in 2011 and
collected testimony regarding his arbitrary arrest and torture. Despite the
existence of this testimony, in 2012 a civilian appeals court refused to
investigate Dr. al-Singace’s credible allegations of abuse and upheld the
military court’s decision. Dr. al-Singace has received no compensation for the
acts of torture that he suffered, nor have his torturers been held accountable
for their actions.
On 21
March 2015, Dr. al-Singace went on hunger strike in protest at the collective
punishment and acts of torture that police inflicted upon prisoners following a
riot in Jau Prison earlier that month. Today, he passed 160 days of hunger
strike.
Dr.
al-Singace suffers from post-polio syndrome and is disabled. In addition to the
torture Dr. al-Singace has suffered, his medical conditions have deteriorated
considerably as a result of his incarceration. Prison and prison hospital
authorities have denied him physiotherapy and surgery to his nose and ears. He
is currently being held in solitary confinement in a windowless room in
Al-Qalaa hospital.
We remind
the Bahraini government of its obligations under the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Bahrain acceded to in 2006. Under the
ICCPR Bahrain must ensure that no individual is subjected to arbitrary
detention (Article 9) and that everyone enjoys the right to freedom of
expression (Article 19). We demand that the government release all individuals
who are arbitrarily detained for exercising their right to free expression,
whether through peaceful assembly, online blogging or other means. We also
remind the Bahraini government of its obligations arising from the 1984
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CAT), to which Bahrain is a state party. In 2015, the UN Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention found that arbitrary detention and torture are used
systematically in the criminal justice system of Bahrain.
We, the
undersigned NGOs, call on the Bahraini authorities to release Dr. Abduljalil
al-Singace and all prisoners of conscience in Bahrain.
We
further call on the international community, and in particular EU member states
and the United States, to demand release of Dr. al-Singace.
Background
Information
Dr.
al-Singace has been the target of judicial harassment since 2009, when he was
arrested for the first time and charged with participating in a terror plot and
inciting hatred on his blog, Al-Faseela, which was subsequently banned by
Bahraini Internet Service Providers. Dr. al-Singace had blogged prolifically
and critically against governmental corruption in Bahrain. He was later
pardoned by the King and released, although his blog remained banned in Bahrain.
In August
2010, police arrested Dr. al-Singace on his return from London, where he had
spoken at an event hosted by the House of Lords on Bahrain. A security official
at the time claimed he had “abused the freedom of opinion and expression
prevailing in the kingdom.” Following his arrest, Bahraini security forces
subjected Dr. al-Singace to acts of physical torture.
Dr.
al-Singace received a second royal pardon alongside other political prisoners
in February 2011. He was rearrested weeks later in March following the
imposition of a state of emergency and the intervention of the Peninsula Shield
Force, an army jointly composed of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
On 22
June 2011, a military court sentenced Dr. al-Singace to life imprisonment. He
is one of thirteen leading human rights and political activists arrested in the
same period, subjected to torture, and sentenced in the same case, collectively
known as the “Bahrain 13”. A civilian appeals court upheld the sentence on 22
May 2012. The “Bahrain 13” are serving their prison sentences in the Central
Jau Prison. Among the “Bahrain 13”, Ebrahim Sharif, former leader of the
secular political society Wa’ad, was released by royal pardon on 19 June 2015,
but was rearrested weeks later on 11 July, following a speech in which he
criticized the government. He currently faces charges of inciting hatred against
the regime. On 9 July 2015, the EU Parliament passed an Urgent Resolution
calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the “Bahrain 13” and
other prisoners of conscience in Bahrain.
During
his time in prison, authorities have consistently denied Dr. al-Singace the
regular medical treatment he requires for his post-polio syndrome, and have
failed to provide him with the surgery he requires as a result of the physical
torture to which he was subjected in 2011. Dr. al-Singace has an infected ear,
suffers from vertigo, and has difficulty breathing.
A
combination of poor quality prison facilities, overcrowding, systematic torture
and ill-treatment led to a riot in Jau Prison on 10 March 2015. Though a
minority of prisoners participated in the riot, police collectively punished
prisoners, subjecting many of them to torture. Authorities starved prisoners,
arbitrarily beat them, and forced them to sleep in courtyards for days, until
large tents were erected. Fifty-seven prisoners are currently on trial for
allegedly instigating the riot.
In
response to these violations, Dr. al-Singace began a hunger strike on 21 March.
It has now been 160 days since Dr. al-Singace has eaten solid foods, and he has
lost over 20 kilograms in weight. Dr. al-Singace subsists on water, drinking
over four litres daily, fizzy drinks for sugar, nutritional supplements, saline
injections and yoghurt drink. His intake is monitored by hospital nurses.
Since the
start of Dr. al-Singace’s hunger strike, he has been transferred to Al-Qalaa
Hospital for prisoners, where he has been kept in solitary confinement in a
windowless room and has irregular contact with medical staff and family. Prison
authorities prevented condolence visits to attend his nephew’s and
mother-in-law’s funerals. Dr. al-Singace should be immediately released,
allowed to continue his work and given full access to appropriate medical
treatment without condition.
Signatories:
Americans
for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
ARTICLE 19
Bahrain
Centre for Human Rights (BCHR)
Bahrain
Human Rights Observatory
Bahrain
Human Rights Society
Bahrain
Institute of Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
Bahrain
Press Association
Bahrain
Youth Society for Human Rights
Cairo
Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
Canadian
Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
CIVICUS:
World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Committee
to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
English
Pen
Ethical
Journalism Network
European
– Bahraini Organisation for Human Rights (EBOHR)
European
Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
Front
Line Defenders
Gulf
Center for Human Rights (GCHR)
Index on
Censorship
International
Forum for Democracy and Human Rights (IFDHR)
Irish Pen
Khiam
Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (KRC)
Maharat
Foundation
Mothers Legacy
Project
No Peace
Without Justice
PEN
American Center
PEN Canada
Pen
International
Project
on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
Rafto
Foundation
Redress
Reporters
Without Borders
Salam for
Democracy and Human Rights
Sentinel
Human Rights Defenders
Shia
Rights Watch
The
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
The
European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
The
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Tunisia
Initiative for Freedom of Expression
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