Nabeel Rajab, hundreds of other Democracy Activists Suffering Abuse in Bahrain Prison

Bahraini Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab Suffering Abuse in Prison
22 April, 2013 – World Movement for Democracy

The BBC News reports that leading Bahraini democracy and human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been denied medical treatment at Jaw Prison, where he is currently serving a two-year prison sentence. According to his wife, Sumaya, Mr. Rajab suffers from a back injury he sustained in 2005 when he was beaten by police. The injury requires him to see a doctor regularly for treatment. Sumaya has asked the prison to provide him with a specialized doctor so he can receive treatment for pain that is “so severe that sometimes he cannot move,” but her requests have been repeatedly denied.

The World Movement for Democracy has written numerous alerts about Mr. Rajab, who serves as the director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR). Mr. Rajab was originally sentenced to three months in prison for a tweet, and then to three years in prison for participating in and calling for a peaceful protest. That sentence was later reduced to two years.

According to a statement released on April 22 regarding Mr. Rajab’s ill-treatment and continued imprisonment, the GCHR “believes that these actions are directly related to his human rights work in Bahrain.” The World Movement for Democracy strongly urges the Bahraini Government to grant Nabeel Rajab immediate access to medical treatment, and joins the GCHR in calling for his immediate release and that of all of his fellow prisoners of conscience and activists. …more