The Bahraini regime launched a campaign of incitement and smear against a prominent prisoner of conscience Abdul Jalil Al-Singace, in light of his hunger strike for more than three months and the mounting international pressure to release him.
Through its trolls, the hashtag #SingaceBetraysBahrian takes personal revenge on him for his insistence on continuing his hunger strike and exposure to Manama’s human rights violations.
Al-Singace had started his hunger strike last July 8 to protest his ill-treatment in prison and the prison administration’s confiscation in April of his research papers that he had been writing for four years.
International human rights organizations and European parliamentary figures have repeatedly called for the immediate release of Al-Singace and saving his life, which constituted a considerable embarrassment for the Bahraini regime.
Al-Singace’s case reflects the Bahraini authorities’ attacks on political opponents, opinion activists, and human rights workers.
As a member of the Al-Wefaq and Al-Haq parties opposed to the authority, Dr Al-Singace became a well-known critic of the ruling Al Khalifa family.
Before his arrest and imprisonment several times, he held significant positions at the University of Bahrain, specializing in mechanical engineering.
In 2010, Al-Singace gave a speech in the United Kingdom that sounded the alarm about Bahrain’s dire and dire human rights situation. On his return to Bahrain, he was arrested and detained for more than six months.
While in detention, he was brutally tortured, even though he suffered from post-paralysis syndrome – and the authorities were aware of his health. In early February 2011, the king granted him a royal pardon to release him.
A month later, Dr Al-Singace was arrested for participating in the demonstrations. As a figure known by the government for his activism, he was arrested as part of the “Bahrain Thirteen”, a group of thirteen political figures sentenced to prison for their peaceful participation in the Bahraini Arab uprising.
Al-Singace is still being held in Jaw Prison, the largest male prison in Bahrain, where he suffers from several health problems, including muscle and sickle cell disease.
He regularly suffers from shortness of breath, and symptoms of post-paralysis syndrome have worsened. He has been repeatedly denied access to much-needed medical care and has been prevented from seeing his family since March 2017.
Jaw Prison does not meet the prison standards required by international law; It is a prison known for its inhumane conditions on the one hand and overcrowding on the other.
The Al-Singace case is an example of the actions of the Bahrain government, which does not discriminate between arrested persons; Women, children, activists and human rights defenders are not exempted from arrest in any way.
Many of these people are arrested without any warrant and are subjected to torture and other inhumane treatment at the hands of Bahraini police and secret service officers.