Reflection from Sheikh Mohammed Ali Almahfoodh, Bahraini Prisoner of Conscience – Letter from Prison to President Barack Obama

Letter Two: Reflection from Sheikh Mohammed Ali, the Bahraini Prisoner of Conscience
10 May, 2012

Dear President Barak Obama,

I am writing to you my second letter while I am sitting behind the bars, where I cannot breathe the fresh air except two hours every day, and I cannot breathe freedom at all. I am in a very small room with six prisoners accompanying me, sharing one bathroom. I live in a place where even animals cannot live. I live in a place where I cannot read, see the papers, or even perform the least hobbies of sports and writing. I am in a place where we do not have any proper medication or regular medical check-up. The medical check-up is dedicated for measuring how far they can torture you. I am in a place where I have no access to the outside world. I hope this letter reaches you and spread the agony and tragedy I am living with hundreds of prisoners of conscience with the approval of the United States of America.

Mr. President, I would like to speak to you about my message in life, and my society’s visions, missions and goals. Amal is neo-a liberal Islamic society that was established in 2001 and officially declared in 2002 under the official law of Bahrain. Amal carries two meaning in Arabic. Amal is work and it also means hope. We believe that collective work is the hope that will bring prosperity to Bahrain. Our society is a restructure of Bahrain Frontline established in 1980. We restructured our strategies after the national royal pardon of the King in 2001. We believe that political partnership, and we have been calling for a genuine partnership since 2002, because we perceived from that time that without a genuine partnership, the country is destined to an inevitable clash. The conditions of Bahrain were not acceptable, and this is why I personally was very keen on bringing up the crucial problems that eventually lead to 14 February. Amal organized three conferences as follows:The Inevitable need for a Consensus Modern Constitution (2003); The Bitter Reality of Poverty (2007); and Together to Solve Housing Crisis (2008). In 2007, Amal allied with Waad Society (Ebrahim Sharif) and Haqq Movement and called for a genuine change beginning with the change of the current Prime Minister, who is in his place for forty-three years. At that time, teenagers and the youth rallied on the streets and we called for the emergent need for change; an emergent need for an initiative that genuinely lead the country to prosperity because we read from the daily protests that a revolution is coming on the way.

Amal never took part in any elections, and Amal boycotted all the parliamentary elections because we believe that the representatives will be corrupt and take part in misrepresenting democracy. It was public bribery to represent a distorted democracy, where no genuine decision or legislation could be carried out. In the last ten years, there were three elections, and the representative were only puppetry performers, where they fight over trivial issues and they turned the Lower House of Representatives to a sectarian conflicting place, where the most trivial discussions were turned to Sunni-Shiite fights. Moreover, the representatives did not establish any reject to build the country’s infrastructure or help establish laws to guarantee respecting human rights and improving civil rights and civil liberties.

In 2007, we warned the country that an inevitable revolution is surging on the horizon, and we never stopped pointing out to this imminent blow out until February 14th 2011. Before February 14, there was a meeting with the US previous Ambassador, Mr. Adam Early, with some people who claim themselves as the leading opposition in Bahrain. These people reported to the Ambassador that the calls for 14th February are uttered from children and teenagers, who are fascinated with the revolution of Egypt, but they are under control and they are only children.

Mr. President, We were the only officially registered society who knew this is not only a dream of teenagers. Bahrain did suffer from all the conditions and circumstances that would eventually lead to a revolution, and our vision was right. I would like to point to an important fact in this point about the so-called Crown Prince Dialogue. The Dialogue was only an excuse to pass time while in reality there was a plan to break down the Pearl Revolution. The visit of Mr. Robert Gates was not a coincidence and it is a proof that the United States of America is a partner in the murder of tens of Bahrainis, torturing thousands of prisoners, detaining thousands of innocents, and suspending thousands from their jobs.

Mr. President, I regret to say that the United States Silence and partnership in this sectarian genocide is a shame that will haunt the history of America during the Presidency of President Barack Obama. However, it is not late, and I am sure there is time to erase this black spot that ushered a counterattack to choke the call for democracy. I do believe that the spirit of the “Declaration of Independence” will lead to better stands from the United States of America.
In conclusion, despite the fact that I have spent a whole year in torture and without my freedom I have a belief to convey to you. The Khalifa Regime might have detained me, tortured me, and put me under detention for no reasons, but they cannot deprive me from my freedom, the spirit of freedom and liberty, and my dream of a country where the national motto is “for God, for Justice, for Freedom.”

Yours,
Sheikh Mohammed Ali Almahfoodh
Chairman of Amal Islamic Society
Jaw Central Prison of Bahrain