On 17 March, ADHRB has delivered an oral intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 52 under item 3 during the General debate. ADHRB urge the Council to pressure Bahrain to stop its violations against political prisoners, ensure their basic rights as stipulated in the Mandela Rules and demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners.
Mr. President, We draw your attention to the extreme human rights abuses inflicted upon 14 Bahraini political prisoners. They have been subjected to beatings and torture and placed in solitary confinement. After surviving nearly 5 months in isolation, these prisoners were forcibly removed into two cells lacking basics like beds and hygiene facilities. During their time here they were brutally assaulted. Strict monitoring of phone calls prevented them from speaking freely about these violations however, one prisoner was able to reveal some of what his fellow inmates face: Mohamed AbdulNabi Jumaa was thrown to the ground, pepper-sprayed, and beaten by policeman Hassan Jumaa who stepped on his neck inflicting a wound there. Mohamed AbdulJalil Abdulla was severely beaten and his neck stepped on by the same policeman. Their family’s efforts to find justice through the national authorities, have been met with denials and a systematic policy of whitewashing by Bahraini authorities These are not isolated incidents but part of the systematic targeting of political prisoners who protest violations committed by Bahraini authorities. We urge the Council to pressure Bahrain to stop its violations against political prisoners, ensure their basic rights as stipulated in the Mandela Rules and demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners.
