On July 18 of each year, the United Nations celebrates Nelson Mandela International Day, in commemoration of the birth of the former President of South Africa and his outstanding contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.
This memory comes in commemoration of Mandela, who himself spent 27 years of his life in prison, and the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners in December 2015 as the “Nelson Mandela Rules”. These rules are the result of five years of intergovernmental consultations, and represent a historic adjustment to the original 1955 version.
On Mandela’s International Day, we must point out that more than 1,300 Bahraini political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are still languishing in Bahrain’s prisons, living in difficult and inhumane conditions, being subjected to constant harassment and torture, and facing the risk of death as a result of the deliberate medical negligence policy against them. They are serving prison sentences handed down in courts that fall short of minimum international fair trial standards, and on charges that violate their right to freedom of expression.
On this occasion, we must recall that Bahrainis are still striving for freedom and equality, and are facing discrimination, deprivation and oppression. Because of the demand for rights, opposition figures and other political and human rights leaders are still in detention, such as: Sheikh Ali Salman, Sheikh Abdul Jalil Al-Miqdad, Mr Abdul-Wahhab Hussein, Mr Hassan Al-Mushaima, Dr. Abdul-Jalil Al-Singace and human rights activist Abdul-Hadi Al-Khawaja, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, for nothing but their demand peace with full civil and political rights.
Hence, Bahrain Center sends an urgent appeal to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, diplomatic missions, United Nations special rapporteurs and national governments, to pressure the Bahraini authorities to release Mandela Bahrain, human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja immediately and unconditionally, 12 years after unjustly arrested.
Accordingly, the Director of Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Nedal Al-Salman, calls on the authorities in Bahrain to start national reconciliation to achieve comprehensive political and human rights reform, to immediately release all prisoners of conscience, to provide justice for the victims, and to stop targeting opponents and activists in general because of their just and just demands. Hence Bahrain Center urges:
• Members of the United Nations Human Rights Council to pressure Bahrain to comply with its recommendations, and to fulfill its obligations in the field of human rights.
• To fully and immediately apply the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules) and abide by them.