By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 10th May 2007
TWO human rights activists will have their hands and legs cuffed and don notorious orange suits similar to those worn by Guantanamo Bay detainees for a public protest taking place today.
The symbolic protest is taking place near Seef Mall at 5pm to highlight the plight of Bahrain’s two remaining detainees at the infamous detention centre in Cuba.
The men, whose identities have not been revealed, will stand at a set of traffic lights leading to the shopping centre.
Their protest has been organised by the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) to remind people of the plight of Bahraini detainees Juma Al Dossary and Isa Al Murbati.
By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 10th May 2007
TWO human rights activists will have their hands and legs cuffed and don notorious orange suits similar to those worn by Guantanamo Bay detainees for a public protest taking place today.
The symbolic protest is taking place near Seef Mall at 5pm to highlight the plight of Bahrain’s two remaining detainees at the infamous detention centre in Cuba.
The men, whose identities have not been revealed, will stand at a set of traffic lights leading to the shopping centre.
Their protest has been organised by the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) to remind people of the plight of Bahraini detainees Juma Al Dossary and Isa Al Murbati.
It also aims to increase pressure on the government to secure their release.
“This demonstration will be a small symbolic affair held to remind the authorities of the forgotten detainees and their responsibility towards them,” said BCHR vice-president Nabeel Rajab.
“While there is no news of their release from officials, they have not been forgotten by their loved ones.
“We still receive calls from Isa Al Murbati’s wife and Juma Al Dossary’s brother asking if there is any news about them and their return.
“We know that at this point the only hope for Juma and Isa’s return is the Bahraini government that has to lobby with their American allies to get them back.
“The demand of our protest is that the Bahraini government work hard to close this sad chapter for the families who have been waiting more than five years for their relatives’ return – as they did for the detainees who have been returned already.”
Al Murbati and Al Dossary, both of whom have young children, have been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than five years without charge or trial.
They are being kept in isolation and their lawyers previously told the GDN the men were in bad physical and mental condition.
Legal proceedings that could allow the detainees to challenge their detention in the US courts have been frozen and lawyers have said the detainees’ only hope of release is though diplomatic channels.
The GDN reported last week that the US government was reportedly trying to block lawyers’ visits to the two Bahrainis at Guantanamo Bay.
It is also seeking permission to read mail the lawyers send to them, according to their legal team head Joshua Colangelo-Bryan.
He said the Bush administration also wants to be able to decide whether or not to provide the lawyers with documents that it considered when it detained them.
Three other Bahrainis, Adel Kamel Hajee, Abdulla Al Nuaimi and Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, were released from Guantanamo in November 2005, while Salah Al Blooshi was released from custody and returned to Bahrain in October last year.
© Gulf Daily News
