Written by Brian Dooley
Bahrain is facing a new human rights crisis as the largest prison protests in the country’s history escalate. More than 800 inmates, more than half of the prison population, are on hunger strike. The prisoners claim that years of abuse and neglect forced them to take such extreme actions.
Among the hunger strikers is human rights defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja. His exiled daughter Mariam is planning to return to Bahrain soon to highlight her case and her protest, despite the danger to her safety.
Bahrain’s Crown Prince (and Prime Minister) is scheduled to visit Washington this week, and a delegation from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is also scheduled to visit Bahrain. Prisoners know these visits are an opportunity to draw attention to their protests.
Prisoners’ demands include:
- end safe isolation of prisoners
- Provide access to appropriate health care and education
- Reform strict rules regarding family visitation
- End solitary confinement lockdown and increase time outdoors
- Allow access to prison mosques for group prayers
Two prisoners spoke about the daily realities of the protests.
One of them is 49-year-old Ahmed Jaafar Mohamed Ali, who has been in prison since being extradited from Serbia in January 2022. According to him and witnesses, prison guards sprayed him with pepper spray in the face and sent him to solitary confinement. Protest held in the prison yard on August 15, 2023. While in solitary confinement, he said his hands were tied behind his back, his ankles were restrained, and he was not allowed to bathe for 16 days.
“We are between four walls, everything is forbidden, everything is prohibited. We wake up around noon and stay almost in bed. After the dawn prayer, we go to sleep Masu.
“My body has changed a lot. I’ve lost more than 10 kilograms.
“Some prisoners are currently trying to worsen the situation by refusing medication provided by the prison clinic.
“I participated in the strike in support of the demands and in solidarity with other people. We were silent for a long time, but the situation worsened until it exploded. Even if we couldn’t, we had to take a stand to secure some of our rights.
“In prisons, we talk about how we want to change the status quo, ensure that prisoners have their rights, and have access to proper medicine and medical care, especially for prisoners with long sentences. This is because there is no internal program to accept it.
“What we want from international organizations, especially the United Nations, is to change the current situation, give us rights, improve treatment and, in particular, separate political prisoners from other prisoners in separate buildings. It is used as a tool to put pressure on isolated prisoners and create unfavorable conditions for prisoners who want to punish them.
“Also, their unprofessionalism [Bahrain] The National Institute for Human Rights and its misleading statements are worth mentioning. Their daily press releases have no reality given the suffering endured every day in prison.
“There was a lot of pressure from the authorities to stop the strike, but I showed my strength by demanding my rights and refused to eat, even if it made my health worse or if I was about to die,” he said. I have told you.”
Saeed Sajjad, who has been in prison since September 2013, said he was one of the inmates in negotiations with prison authorities.
“Prison management treats us with a spirit of revenge. I call on the UN delegation to save us from the slow death inflicted by prison management. He is currently serving his sentence.
“I’ve been on a hunger strike for 33 days and hours. I feel so sick that I can’t see clearly at times. I weighed 75 kg (165 lbs) and now I weigh 62 kg (136 lbs). is.
“Most of the time, we lie in bed. We can’t go out, even during outdoor exercise or sunbathing season. The only time we come out of our phones is to make calls, and then We’re coming back. We don’t have energy. We don’t have medical care. Just now, one of the prisoners had a blood sugar level of 2.4 and his condition worsened and he was taken to the infirmary. They told him to drink juice or He refused to be seen at the clinic unless he received intravenous nutrition.
“Right now, the police are carrying out the tests and deciding who needs to see a doctor. Now the police have become the doctors…
“We have serious special cases for which there is no cure. Police officers have also become doctors, using safety as an excuse to cancel follow-up appointments and surgeries. For example, one prisoner had been waiting for an appointment for more than a year. However, your reservation is canceled due to safety reasons.
“Our strength comes from knowing that if we stop now, prison administrators will retaliate against us in a way worse than the current situation. will take severe revenge.
“Most of the discussions between us are about whether the regime is responding to our demands and that the regime doesn’t care if one of the prisoners dies during the strike.”