British MPs, Trade Unions, NGOs, Academics Urge London to Save Bahraini Hunger Striker
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Scores of British lawmakers, trade unions, NGOs and academics have written to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to convey their gravest concern over the fate of imprisoned Bahraini academic and human rights defender Abduljalil AlSingace, who has been on hunger strike since July.
In their letter the signatories said AlSingace "is protesting persistent mistreatment by prison authorities and demanding a book he wrote in prison on Bahrain's culture and dialects, to which he dedicated four years of research, be returned, following its confiscation in April 2021."
Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Committee has, on its part warned that the national security law used to convict AlSingace is also used to persecute "human rights defenders and activists."
The letter to the British foreign secretary reads:
Dear Liz Truss,
We write in solidarity with imprisoned Bahraini academic and human rights defender Dr Abduljalil AlSingace who has been on hunger strike since 8 July 2021, losing over 20kg and has been hospitalised since 18th July 2021. He is protesting persistent mistreatment by prison authorities and demanding a book he wrote in prison on Bahrain's culture and dialects, to which he dedicated four years of research, be returned, following its confiscation in April 2021.
AlSingace has spent over 10 years in prison since being sentenced to life for his peaceful activism during Bahrain's 2011 Arab Spring uprising. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry documented severe torture against AlSingace following his arrest and UN experts and rights groups have reported mistreatment and medical negligence throughout his imprisonment. The UN Human Rights Committee has warned that the national security law used to convict AlSingace is used to persecute "human rights defenders and activists."
16 rights groups, 101 global academics and numerous British parliamentarians have called on Bahrain, a close UK ally, to meet AlSingace's demands and order his release. Yet despite calling for the release of prominent human rights defenders imprisoned by hostile states, the UK government has made no substantive statement, instead repeating false assurances from Bahrain about his case.
This silence risks emboldening Bahrain in their criminalization of peaceful dissent and torture of dissidents. The UK government must condemn Bahrain's persecution of AlSingace, call for the return of his intellectual property and immediate and unconditional release. This miscarriage of justice must end.
