Photojournalist in Bahraini Jail Denied Medical Treatment

TEHRAN (FNA)- Photojournalist Hussain Hubail is being denied adequate medical care and treatment in a Bahraini jail.

The regime uses such methods as retaliation against prisoners of conscience, political prisoners and other prisoners, Alwefaq.net reported Sunday.

Hubail is suffering from heart pain and shortness of breath but he has not yet been transferred to hospital. According to his family, the prison’s clinic has given him a non-prescribed medicine.

He was arrested on 31st July 2013 and is now facing accusations related to his media activism, such as using social media to incite hatred of the regime.

His family fears that his health condition may worsen and cause further complications. Nevertheless, the Government takes full responsibility for any possible complications Hubail may suffer due to its deliberate denial of providing him with the necessary medical treatment.

Younis al Hadher, another prisoner in Bahrain, is also being denied medical treatment, despite his deteriorating health condition. Al Hadher was arrested at the building of the Immigration and Passports Department when he went to renew his passport on 19th December 2012. Younis is suffering from chronic epilepsy. Sadly, due to the continuous denial of medical care he is subjected to, he has lost the ability to walk and move normally and is suffering from complications in hearing and eyesight. According to his family, he also suffers from heart cramps as a result of his epilepsy that is confirmed in his medical report.

Mohammed Sahwan, is detained and injured with Shotgun pellets –internationally prohibited arms – and needs immediate treatment due to his critical condition. But he too is being denied medical treatment in jail and only given painkillers.

These are three of many cases of denial of medical care in the Bahraini jails. Indeed, some prisoners have died in jail due to the absence and denial of medical care and treatment, like Mohamed Mushaima.

Al Wefaq National Islamic Society demands the Authorities to provide full medical care and treatment to the political prisoners as a humanitarian right. Al Wefaq considers this issue in the hands of the international community since the regime has crossed the humanitarian lines by denying prisoners medical treatment as a punishment against dissidents and individual citizens.

Al Wefaq stresses that the Government of Bahrain has proven that it is irresponsible and is not able to maintain the safety and security of individual citizens and does not value their lives. As the Government does not only arbitrarily and vengefully arrest and prosecute citizens in trials based on coerced confessions under torture, it goes further to put their lives in danger. …source

Ongoing judicial harassment against Bahraini activists for their cooperation with UN system
28 October, 1013 – ABNA

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) express their serious concern over the ongoing campaign of judicial harassment against human rights defenders in Bahrain who cooperate with the UN system. In the recent days, Human rights defender Mohamed Al-Maskati was interrogated on charges related to freedom of expression, while another 2 defenders of his organization, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), are currently behind bars.

On 22 October 2013, human rights defender, co-founder and president of the BYSHR Mohamed Al-Maskati was summoned to Al-Khamis Police Station where he was interrogated on charges of “inciting hatred against the regime” in relation to a speech he made on 8 September 2013 in Jidhafs Town, where he talked about the concept of nonviolence and the importance of demanding rights through peaceful techniques as well as human rights as set in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Defender Al-Maskati was released after he signed a pledge to appear before the Public Prosecution office upon request. His case may be transferred to court at any time.

Mohamed Al-Maskati is a renowned human rights defender, an advocate of non-violence and a trainer of Digital Security for human rights defenders. He has been actively cooperating with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in recent years and has visited the Special Rapporteurs in August 2013. He also met several diplomatic missions in Geneva in coordination with many regional and international Human Rights organizations.

This summon comes at the end of a long list of judicial and extra-judicial harassment to human rights defender Al-Maskati. Since June 2013, he is going through a trial at the Lower Criminal Court, facing possible prison sentences on charges of “participation in illegal protests” in relation to his participation in a peaceful protest entitled “Self determination”. The next hearing will be on 9 December 2013.

Last year, on 16 October 2012, Al-Maskati was detained for about 24 hours and questioned at the Public Prosecution office on charges of “rioting and participating in an illegal gathering” few weeks after he delivered an oral intervention at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, where he informed the (HRC) about the massive intimidation campaign against him. Although he was released after interrogation, but the charges remained pending since then. After tweeting about his attendance at the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva in September 2012, Al-Maskati received continuous threats via anonymous phone calls. He was threatened with death if “he damaged Bahrain’s reputation in Geneva”, and he was also a target of a smear campaign run by a pro-government newspapers following his return from Geneva.

Another two members of BYSHR are currently behind bars. Human rights defender and BYSHR co-founder Naji Fateel is detained since May 2013 and has been sentenced on 29 Sep 2013 to 15 years in prison after a show trial that fails to live up to fair trial standards. He was reportedly subjected to torture in detention. Human rights defender and member of BYSHR, Hussain Abdulnabi, is still detained while facing a trial since 6 Sep 2013. Some reliable reports confirmed that the security forces have a plan to target other members of the BYSHR. …more

Thousands, including freed politician, protest in Bahrain, demanding reforms in Gulf kingdom
Star Tribune – 25 October, 2013

MANAMA, Bahrain — Thousands of people have marched in the tiny Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, demanding more reforms in the country.

Among the protesters Friday was prominent opposition figure Khalil al-Marzooq, freed Thursday as he faces charges of encouraging violence. He has denied any support for bombings and other attacks, which have been on the rise.

Protesters chanted anti-government slogans Friday and some masked youths confronted police. An Associated Press journalist saw police fire tear gas at demonstrators.

Bahrain has been gripped by nonstop unrest after the kingdom’s Shiite majority began an uprising in early 2011 calling for a greater political voice. Many protesters and other senior opposition figures have been jailed during crackdowns in the strategic island nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

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Torture is still in practiced in Guantanamo
Voltaire Network – 28 October, 2013

Mr. James Connell, the lawyer of 36-year old Ammar al Baluchi who is detained in Guantanamo, stated that his client has been tortured for years.

Mr. Connell has based this statement on two unclassified medical documents that show signs of apparent torture. However, according to prosecutor Clay Trivett, everything that concerns interrogations is classified as ’’sources and methods’’ of the CIA. Discretion also applies to interrogatios carried out in secret off-shore prisons, located on Navy boats in international waters. The lawyer is therefore not allowed to refer to the incidents or the methods proving that his client was tortured.

Mr. Connel asked that the president of the military court come to inspect the prisoner’s cell inside the Guantanamo 7 camp (the secret part reserved for the CIA). But the military judge refused, since officially torture is no longer being practiced there.

Ammar al-Baluchi is a Yemeni immigrant. He was arrested in Pakistan on April 29th 2003, then detained illegally and tortured in a secret CIA prison for over two years. He was transfered on September 2006 to Guantanamo where he’s been illegally imprisoned for 7 years.

According to the National Commission on the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Ammar al-Baluchi is supposed to have purchased the tickets for and provided the air pirates with various tips about life in the United-States. In addition, he purportedly served as a straw man in numerous money transactions.

The case of Ammar al-Baluchi has been evoked in the debates about the possible closing of Guantanamo. Senator Mitch McConnel had concluded that he would have to be freed at the closing of the camp, for lack of evidence against him.
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Bahrain cuts jail terms of two policemen who tortured protester to death
27 October, 2013 – Al Akhbar

Bahrain’s appeals court on Sunday cut the jail terms of two policemen convicted of torturing to death a protester after a 2011 crackdown on anti-government demonstrations, a judicial source said.

The court reduced the terms of the men from seven years to three after a lower court had convicted them in December over Abdul Karim Fakhrawi’s killing in custody in April 2011.

Fakhrawi was a publisher and had co-founded Al-Wasat daily, which the authorities closed following the crackdown on protests over two years ago.

A number of policemen are facing trials over claims of killing protesters or torturing detainees after a wave of arrests that targeted members of the Shiite majority.

On Monday, a court in US-backed kingdom decreased the jail term of a policeman convicted of shooting dead a protester in February 2011 from seven years to three.

The authorities say they are implementing the recommendations of an independent commission of inquiry that confirmed allegations the security forces had used excessive force during the uprising.

At least 89 people have been killed by police since the protests began two and a half years ago, according to the International Federation for Human Rights. …more

Bahrain: We use tear gas on protesters ‘appropriately’
By Mahmoud Habboush – Reuters – 28 October, 2013

DUBAI – Bahrain has defended its use of tear gas after rights groups criticized the Gulf kingdom’s reported plans to buy 1.6 million canisters of the material.

Local and international rights groups have accused the authorities of using tear gas excessively and of firing canisters directly at protesters or into cars and houses where they can cause serious injuries.

“Tear gas is non-lethal and it is used appropriately by the police, in compliance with the law and in full adherence with the internationally accepted standards contained in the Bahrain police code of conduct,” the government spokesman’s office said in an email to Reuters.

The tiny island state has been in political upheaval since February 2011, when mass protests led by the mostly Shi’ite Muslim opposition were crushed by the Sunni monarchy.

The government statement was made in response to a Reuters query about a leaked document published by Bahrain Watch, an advocacy group, which appeared to be a tender to supply the Interior Ministry with tear gas canisters and stun grenades.

The U.S. government has banned the export of tear gas to Bahrain.

“Bahrain’s police forces are using less force than is legally permitted,” the statement said.

It did not specifically address the issue of the reported tear gas tender, but did say that protesters’ practices of setting fire to car tires and throwing petrol bombs were more dangerous than the authorities’ use of teargas.

It said more than 2,300 police personnel had been injured and nine killed since the protests began 2-1/2 years ago.

An international inquiry in November 2011 found that 35 people had died during Bahrain’s uprising, most of whom were protesters but also including five security personnel. The opposition puts the death toll at more than 80.

The U.S.-based Human Rights First (HRF) advocacy group earlier this month urged Washington to speak out against the planned tear gas shipment.

According to Bahrain Watch, the leaked document came in the form of a tender issued by the Interior Ministry’s Purchasing Directorate. It invited arms manufacturers to supply the ministry with “tear gas cartridges and sound grenades.”

In March 2012, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the use of tear gas had led to a number of deaths of protesters and bystanders in Bahrain.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a U.S.-based group that campaigns for medical staff working in crisis zones, said in August 2012 that the Bahraini government uses tear gas indiscriminately, causing severe injuries to some civilians.

Bahrain denies that charge.
…source

Bahraini Opposition Leader Says Protests Continue despite Suppression
27 October, 2013 – Tasnim News Agency

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A prominent Bahraini opposition leader said the Al Khalifa regime would never be able to restrain the Arab nation from holding demonstrations, noting that the opposition will keep staging mass rallies against the ruling family.

“The Bahraini nation has repeatedly announced in the demonstrations that no matter how much the Al Khalifa wants to intensify the crackdown (on people), it would not be able to prevent the Bahraini nation from pouring into the streets and shouting slogans for the overthrow of Manama regime,” Ali al-Mushaima told the Tasnim News Agency on Sunday.

He also expressed concern about the conditions of those opposition activists now held in the regime’s custody, and warned that the ruling government might resort to liquidating the opposition leaders to dampen or silence the anti-regime protests.

The Persian Gulf state has seen frequent unrest since authorities cracked down on the popular uprising against the ruling monarchy in early 2011.

Human Rights Watch has accused the Bahraini government of violence and torture, with frequent reports of child protesters facing conditions which border on torture while in custody.

Human rights organizations have also accused the West of turning a blind eye to the crackdown, because it considers Bahrain as strategically important, providing a haven for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf.

Bahrain has seen tens of people killed since the protests erupted, according to the International Federation for Human Rights. Hundreds more have been arrested and languish in prison.

In a recent mass show trial in six separate cases, 95 Bahraini protesters were sentenced to between three and 15 years in prison for allegedly trying to topple the country’s constitutional monarchy, organizing bombings and inciting anti-government rallies.

Many popular human rights activists were among the 95 individuals receiving a total of 808 years behind bars. …source