A hunger strike by eight prominent figures in Bahrain, which started on February 13th, has attracted several thousands of supporters who visited the place where the strike is held in Nuwaidrat, a village South West of the capital Manama.
A hunger strike by eight prominent figures in Bahrain, which started on February 13th, has attracted several thousands of supporters who visited the place where the strike is held in Nuwaidrat, a village South West of the capital Manama.
Abdul-Jaleel Al-Meqdad (a senior Shiite religious scholar), Abdul-Wahab Husain (well-known political activist), Abdulhadi Alkhawaja (former president of the Bahrain Center for Human rights), AbdulJaleel Al-Singace (head of the human rights committee at Haq-movment), and four other Bahraini figures started the hunger strike as a protest against the general deterioration of human rights conditions in Bahrain and to demand the release of around 100 detainees. These detainees are said to be arrested due to their human rights activities or for practicing there rights in freedom of opinion, freedom of organization and freedom of assembly.
The participants in the hunger strike announced that it is only one of a series of steps to be taken and announced yesterday that they intend to end their hunger strike on Tuesday, February 24th, in a rally where they will announce their following move. Two of the participants, AbdulJaleel Al-Singace and Abdulhadi Al-Mokhodar, were transferred to Al-Salmania Medical Complex (SMC) to receive medical treatment due to severe hypoglycemia, hypotension, and generalized fatigue.
Several hundreds of people visited the place of the hunger strike every day showing support to the participants including several delegations representing different Shiite cities and villages in Bahrain. Scores of well-known figures and delegations of opposition political groups and non-governmental societies including human rights groups also attended to show their support. Three parallel rallies organized in the same area to support the strike attracted thousands of supporters on the 23rd, 17th and 20th of February. Speeches and statements during rallies and meetings were discussed, amongst other issues, turning this wide support into the start of civil movement.
For more information, please contact:
Organization committee, Tel: +973 39121674
Direct contact to participants:
In Arabic:
· Abdul-Wahab Husain: Mobile: + 973 39400 720
In English:
· Abdulhadi Alkhawaja: Mobile: + 973 39400 720
· Abdul-Jaleel Al-Singace: Mobile: + 973 39668179
More information on the detainees and human rights situation could be found on: www.bahrainrights.org