On 30 September, ADHRB has delivered an oral intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 51 under item 5, during the General debate. ADHRB raises the issue of systemic reprisal in Bahrain.
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This marks yet another year with Bahrain named in the report on reprisals. It is undeniable that reprisals perpetrated by the Bahraini government against those who engage with the UN are systematic since at least 2017.
Trends highlighted in the report include unlawful life imprisonment, citizenship revocation, cyber surveillance and lack of access to adequate medical care.
Bahrain is running for Human Rights Council membership in 2023 and shouldn’t be elected until it releases imprisoned opposition figures, highlighted in the Secretary General’s report. These include arbitrarily detained Abduljalil AlSingace, Abdulhadi AlKhawaja and Hassan Mushaima, who are subjected to deliberate denial of medical care.
AlSingace has now been on strike from eating solid foods for over 440 days simply to demand authorities hand over his arbitrarily confiscated intellectual property.
Bahrain has failed to acknowledge or respond to the malicious hacking of human rights defenders, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei and Ebtisam AlSaegh, with cyber surveillance attacks using Pegasus spyware.
We ask the Council what further steps can be taken to hold Bahrain accountable for these systematic reprisals and push the government to take action to put an end to these practices.
Thank you.
