15
January 2023
King
of Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad bin 'Issa Al Khalifa
Crown
Prince and Prime Minister, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad
Your
Majesties,
We,
the undersigned, write to you once more concerning the case of Dr.
Abduljalil Al-Singace, an academic, award-winning
activist and blogger who is serving a life sentence
in
Bahrain
solely
for exercising his human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful
assembly. On 14 December 2022, the European Parliament adopted
an urgency resolution calling for the release of Al-Singace,
alongside other prisoners, “who have been detained and sentenced
for merely exercising their right to freedom of expression.”
On
13 August 2022, we wrote
to you
regarding Al-Singace and respectfully urged you to secure his
immediate and unconditional release, and in the meantime, ensure that
he receives adequate health care, be protected from torture and other
ill-treatment, and that his academic work be transferred to his
family. To date, none of our requests have been met or acknowledged,
and Al-Singace’s situation remains one of increasing concern.
Today,
15 January 2023, marks Al-Singace’s 61st
birthday, and his twelfth year spent in detention. It has now been a
staggering year and a half since Al-Singace began his hunger strike
on 8 July 2021 in response to the prison authorities’ confiscation
of his book on Bahraini dialects of Arabic that he spent four years
researching and writing by hand. During his hunger strike he has been
sustaining himself only on multivitamin liquid supplement, tea with
milk and sugar, water and salts. His health has significantly
deteriorated since the start of his prison sentence.
We
are deeply disturbed by updates from Al-Singace’s family that
detail his current medical condition. Al-Singace suffers from
diminished eyesight, pain and inflammation in his joints, tremors,
and prostate problems. In recent months, these medical issues have
continued to worsen—the pain in his left shoulder has increased and
his eyesight has further deteriorated.
In
light of Al-Singace’s worsening health, we are extremely concerned
by the continued delay or denial of Al-Singace’s medications, in
what we fear may be a punitive attempt to pressure him to end his
hunger strike.
Furthermore,
we are seriously alarmed by the information that we have received
from Al-Singace’s family that he has been held in what effectively
amounts to solitary confinement within his room in Kanoo Medical
Centre, where he has been prohibited from going outside, being
exposed to direct sunlight, or receiving the physiotherapy that he
requires for his disability. The deliberate denial of healthcare has
placed Al-Singace’s life in grave danger, and amounts to a clear
failure to provide healthcare in line with Bahrain’s obligations
under international human rights law.
In
light of the above, we renew our call upon you to release Al-Singace
immediately and unconditionally, and in the meantime to ensure he is
held in conditions that meet international standards, receives his
medication without delay and has access to adequate healthcare, in
compliance with medical ethics, and to ensure that his arbitrarily
confiscated research is immediately transferred to his family
members.
Yours
sincerely,
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