Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) calls on the Bahraini authorities to consider the case of prisoner Sadiq Jaafar Marhoon, who suffers from psychological outbreaks after spending 11 years in prison.
The family of Sadiq Marhoon (31 years old) reported to BCHR that their son witnessed a deterioration in his psychological condition and that he suffers from psychological and health symptoms, where he is subject to frequent nervous breakdowns, and he also suffers from some involuntary behaviours such as screaming and hostile tendencies towards everyone he encounters and actions beyond his control. The family also reported that this is the second time that their son’s health and psychological condition has deteriorated in prison, the last of which was in March 2020.
The family said that the officials at Jau Central Prison where Sadiq is present do not take his condition into account, especially when he experiences these psychological breakdowns, and that they do not always respond to his request to go to the hospital if his health condition requires it or when he suffers from these psychological symptoms. The family said that they had addressed some of the relevant official authorities, such as the Prisoners’ Rights Commission, about Sadiq’s case, but that they had not received a response.
Sadiq Marhoon is a Bahraini prisoner imprisoned since 2009 and sentenced to life imprisonment in a case with a political background. He was subjected to torture and ill-treatment in the early period of his detention, such as forceful restraint, blindfolded, sprayed with narcotic drugs during torture, and his restraint and suspension to the ceiling for two days, severe beatings over the body and electrocution.
The family reported that after that, signs of a strange psychological state began to appear on him, and suddenly transformed from a fun person to a strange, aggressive personality, and constantly aggravated to the worst, and that unlike his cheerful personality that he had before the arrest, where he was a fun athlete with excellent physical and mental health and did not suffer from any conditions.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights considers that Sadiq’s case is a human condition that requires attention at a high level inside the prison or at a health and psychological level, and his situation confirms the real troubles of prisoners in obtaining medical care because of the lack of attention of officials inside the prison from what is mentioned and mainly reported by human rights organizations. It is worth noting that Sadiq’s case is not the first case documented by BCHR, as the center has previously worked on similar issues for prisoners suffering from negligence towards their health condition by prison officials.
Therefore, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights requests the Bahraini authorities to:
- Immediate release of Sadiq Marhoon due to his health and psychological condition.
- Work to provide medical care for prisoners commensurate with their health condition.
- Ensuring that adequate attention is paid to similar cases and the persons who need it.