26 August 2010
A lecturer in Engineering was detained by authorities in Bahrain on 13 August, Human Rights Watch reported on 17 August 2010. Dr Abduljalil al-Singace, who teaches engineering at the University of Bahrain, was arrested at Bahrain International Airport as he returned from London with his family.
26 August 2010
A lecturer in Engineering was detained by authorities in Bahrain on 13 August, Human Rights Watch reported on 17 August 2010. Dr Abduljalil al-Singace, who teaches engineering at the University of Bahrain, was arrested at Bahrain International Airport as he returned from London with his family.
Al-Singace is a prominent human rights defender, acting as spokesman and director of the Human Rights Bureau of the Haq Movement for Civil Liberties and Democracy, an opposition political organisation. Whilst in the UK, al-Singace attended a seminar on Bahrain at the House of Lords, where he criticised Bahrain’s human rights practices.
Al-Singace has been accused of “inciting violence and terrorist acts”, and Bahrain officials are yet to issue a formal charge that would justify his arrest or inform lawyers or family of his whereabouts, according to a report by Human Rights watch on 17 August 2010. Dr al-Singace is disabled and restricted to a wheelchair and his family is concerned for his health. Three other opposition activists were also arrested on 15 August.
Dr al-Singace has faced travel bans, arrest and media defamation over the past two years by the Bahrain authorities, Frontline Defenders reported on 15 August (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/12959). He was arrested in January 2009, in relation to an alleged “terror plot”; whilst in February 2009, he and 8 other human rights defenders took part in a hunger strike in protest to the detention of other human rights defenders.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please send appeals:
– Demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Abd al-Jalil al-Singace
– Expressing concern about his health and urging that he be allowed full access to medical professionals, lawyers and his family whilst in detention
– Reminding the Bahraini government of its obligations as a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that “anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him”
Appeals to:
Shaikh Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa
Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs
Ministry of Justice and Islamic affairs
P.O. Box 450, al- Manama, Bahrain
Fax: +973 17536343
Salutation: Your Excellency
His Majesty Shaikh Hamad bin Issa
Al Khalifa
King of Bahrain
Office of His Majesty the King
P. O. Box 555
Rifa’a Palace, Kingdom of Bahrain
Fax:+ 973 1766 8884
Salutation: Your Majesty
Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR)