German parliament member Tobias Pflüger called on his country’s foreign ministry to check the human rights situation of Bahraini prisoner of conscience Abdul Jalil Al-Singace in Jaw Central Prison.
“I ask you to inform me of the case of the Bahraini activist, Abdul Jalil Al-Singace, who is imprisoned in Bahrain,” Pflüger said.
He pointed out that Al-Singace’s case is an integral part of the Bahraini government’s practices that deliberately intimidate political opponents and deprive them of freedom of opinion and expression.
The German parliament member indicated that the charges against Al-Singace are politically motivated and that the matter goes beyond the claim of violating the laws.
He stressed the existence of compelling evidence that he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment during his detention and that he was deprived of the necessary medical care and communication with his family in violation of human rights charters.
Bahraini activists carried out a sit-in in London during which they went on a hunger strike in solidarity with prominent prisoner of conscience Al-Singace.
The activists carried out their sit-in, coinciding with the prisoner Al-Singace entering his 20th day on a hunger strike to protest the confiscation of a book he prepared in Jaw Prison about the restrictions on communications and ill-treatment.
Opposition activist Ali Mushaima announced in a video clip that they will make every effort to support the prisoner Al-Singace and all prisoners of conscience in the prisons of the Bahraini regime.
London witnessed similar sit-ins carried out by Bahraini activists and foreign solidarity activists to alert British public opinion and the country’s politicians to the human rights violations in Bahrain.
Al-Singace is a famous Bahraini academic, blogger and human rights defender serving a life sentence for his leadership role in Bahrain’s pro-democracy movement during the Arab Spring.
He suffers from a range of chronic health problems, including post-polio syndrome, which requires crutches or a wheelchair.
He had started his hunger strike on July 8 in response to the humiliating treatment Officer Mohamed Youssef Fakhro subjected to him and demanded the return of a book he wrote in prison, to which he devoted at least four years of work.
By July 17, 2021, Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace had already lost 7 kg and was transferred to an external hospital for observation one day later. The recent reported COVID-19 outbreaks in Jaw Prison exacerbate the risk to Dr.’s health.
High-level parliamentarians from various parties in the United Kingdom spoke in statements and on social media, urgently calling on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene to respect the Bahraini doctor’s human rights and release him from prison.
Conservative MP and Father of the House of Commons, Sir Peter Bottomley, joined 19 other MPs in supporting a motion condemning Bahrain’s mistreatment of Dr Al-Singace and calling on the government to “pressure Bahrain for his immediate and unconditional release”.
The same demands were heard in a debate in the House of Lords on July 15.
After his arrest, Al-Singace was brutally tortured and “sexually harassed,” according to the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry.
Since his imprisonment, he has suffered from constant medical neglect by prison authorities, and lawmakers and rights groups worldwide have repeatedly urged Bahrain to release him.
