The past months of July and August witnessed a series of human rights violations amounting to 300 violations, including raids, arrests, attacks on Ashura rituals, and violations against prisoners, in addition to security alerts in various regions.
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights monitored many violations from the beginning of July until the end, the most prominent of which were the attacks that targeted “Ashura” rituals. During the 10 days of the month of “Muharram”, the Center documented the summoning of religious scholars and citizens on the grounds of participating in “Ashura” ceremonies, and 10 areas were stormed, namely (Al-Markh, Aali, Al-Ghuraifa, Hamad Town, Saar, Barbar, Abu Saiba, Karzakan, Al-Malikiyah, Salmabad) to remove “Ashura” manifestations. “Black” flags and “Husseini” flags.
It was also recorded that 5 citizens were arrested during the 10 days of the month of “Muharram” and their later release. “Sheikh Mahmoud Al-Aali” was also summoned due to his participation in commemorating the “Ashura” speech.
In an attack on religious freedoms, on July 20, it was observed that the Minister of Interior, Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, issued a decision not to allow preachers and leaders from outside Bahrain to come there during the “Ashura” season, under the pretext that Manama is not a destination for religious tourism.
The arrest of 6 citizens and the summoning of 4 others were recorded during the beginning of July, including activist Munir Mushaima, brother of the martyr Sami Mushaima, activist Ali Muhanna, father of political prisoner Hussein Muhanna, citizen Abdul Majeed Abdullah, and others.
It was also observed that 28 marches and protests were organized in solidarity with the prisoners and in rejection of the attack on the Quran.
On July 5, the martyrdom of the young former political prisoner “Muhammad Abdullah” was recorded after a long journey of suffering after a bitter struggle with cancer, which he suffered behind bars and was subjected to medical neglect. The family was harassed and the father was threatened because of the funeral procession.
Last August witnessed the recording of more than 120 human rights violations, 11 cases of arrest, and a security alert that affected several areas, in addition to the organization of 76 marches and protests in solidarity with the prisoners.
The most prominent event during August was the entry of hundreds of political prisoners into an open hunger strike on August 7 in protest against what they are facing inside the prison, with the prisoners demanding that they be allowed to spend more time outside their cells – they are allowed one hour every day – and to receive appropriate medical treatment and other things. demands. Dozens of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including detained figures, joined the strike, bringing the number of hunger strikers to more than 810. Dozens of cases of fainting and drops in blood sugar levels were recorded, and some of them were transferred to the prison clinic.
The Bahraini-Danish detainee Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja (62 years) has been on hunger strike since August 9, to protest his continued arbitrary detention and his denial of access to medical care. On the 11th of August, he suffered severe heart arrhythmias and was transferred to the Bahrain Defense Force Military Hospital, after which he was returned to his cell, where he resumed his hunger strike.
According to the center’s sources, the security forces in Jaw Prison deal with cases of fainting among the hunger-striking detainees coldly, and delay in handling cases, transferring them, and treating them, while others are transferred to the security isolation prison.
In solidarity, a number of BCHR members went on a one-day strike in solidarity with the prisoners. Activists inside and outside Bahrain organized a series of strikes in solidarity with the prisoners’ demands.
During the month of August, the health of many symbols and prisoners of conscience was recorded to deteriorate, including Sheikh Mirza Al-Mahrous, Sheikh Zuhair Ashour, and the detainee Habib Al-Fardan.
It was also recorded that security personnel inside the prison beat the sixty-year-old detainee on hunger strike, Muhammad Hassan Al-Raml, despite his health condition and his exposure to medical neglect.
According to confirmed testimonies received by the Center from inside the prison, the Jaw Prison administration suspended the dispensing of medications to detainees with chronic diseases for several days during the month of August.
On August 1, 6 young convicts went on a hunger strike to demand their release and an end to the ill-treatment against them. The prisoners are: Muhammad Ali Adel, Hussein Saeed Abdul Karim, Sayed Ahmed Majeed, Firas Hussein, Fadel Muhammad Amin, Ali Mahmoud Muhammad.