International organizations have warned against the death of a prominent prisoner of conscience in Bahrain’s prisons, Abdul Jalil Al-Singace, who has been on a hunger strike for more than six months.
Amnesty International expressed its deep concern for the health and safety of Al-Singace, who began a hunger strike on July 8, 2021, in protest of his degrading treatment in prison, and the confiscation of his research last April, which he worked on for four years.
Since late November, Al-Singace has stopped taking intravenous nutrients, vitamin supplements and oral medications in protest of the punitive suspension of video calls with his family, which reported an alarming drop in his white blood cell count, the organization said.
The organization called on the King of Bahrain, Hamad Isa Al-Khalifa, to end the penalties issued against Al-Singace, drop the charges and cases against him, and immediately and unconditionally release him and all prisoners of conscience languishing in Bahrain’s prisons.
Human Rights First called on the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Academic Al-Singace, after reports of the deterioration of his health and the continued intransigence of the Bahraini authorities to prevent him from receiving the necessary medical care.
Senior Adviser Brian Dooley said, “For many years, we at the organization have been calling for the release of human rights defender Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace. He is imprisoned for life because of his peaceful activism.”
In an article on the organization’s official website, Brian Dooley called on the administration of US President Joe Biden to pressure the Bahraini government to release political detainees in light of the continuing medical negligence in Bahraini prisons.
He said that Al-Singace, one of the Bahraini activists who was tortured in 2011, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his peaceful opposition to the kingdom’s dictatorship and for his participation in the massive protests that Bahrain witnessed ten years ago to demand democracy and human rights.
He added that Al-Singace was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to life imprisonment, through a mock military trial, along with dozens of other prominent dissidents, and most of this group is still in detention in Bahrain’s notorious Jau prison.
He stressed the need for the Biden administration to abide by its promises to put human rights at the heart of foreign policy and reconsider its relationship with all its repressive Gulf allies, especially as Bahrain has become more repressive over the past ten years.
Al-Singace suffers from polio syndrome and sickle cell anaemia, which put his health in constant danger after being subjected to torture and medical neglect in prison. He went on a hunger strike in 2015, which lasted for more than 300 days, to protest the conditions of his detention.
The Bahraini regime released its electronic fly to defame Al-Singace in light of mounting international pressures to release him.
The regime responded to electronic campaigns under the hashtag #FreedomForAl-Singace and #Al-SingaceInDanger, with a counter-campaign far from humanity and false against the hashtag #Al-Singace_terrorist.
Tweeters emphasized that the childish actions of the regime, creating a fictitious public opinion under the slogan #Al-SingaceTerrorist, is nothing but an escape from the right and human rights and international pressure to stop its violations.
