Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Bahraini political prisoners on hunger strike to protest punitive restrictions: 45+ have died in custody since 2011

  • Sondoss Al Asaad Sondoss Al Asaad
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 11 Aug 2023 23:56
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

Hunger strikes, sit-ins, and other forms of peaceful protests frequently occur there as 1300+ prisoners of conscience survive in bug-infested overcrowded cells and are arbitrarily deprived of their minimal basic rights.

  • x
  • Bahraini political prisoners now on hunger strike to protest punitive restrictions: 45+ have died in custody since 2011

Several hundreds of political prisoners are now on an open-ended hunger strike to protest rights abuses at Bahrain’s notorious Jau prison, earlier this week. They are also voicing solidarity with their fellow political inmates who are being held incommunicado for complaining about harassment and psychological pressure.

Hunger strikes, sit-ins, and other forms of peaceful protests frequently occur there as 1300+ prisoners of conscience survive in bug-infested overcrowded cells and are arbitrarily deprived of their minimal basic rights guaranteed in accordance with international and local laws.

In April 2021, Jau’s political prisoners staged a sit-in following the death of Abbas Malallah, who was sentenced to 15 years for his peaceful role in the 2011 uprising. The prison’s guards used stun grenades and batons with excessive force to disperse the outrageous prisoners. Ever since, more than 50 political prisoners disappeared - many still remain incommunicado. 

In November 2014, the prison’s guards subjected Hasan al-Qattan to severe torture that left him with a fractured skull and a ruptured kidney. He was found dead the next morning in his solitary confinement cell.

For his part, Sayyed Kathem al-Sahlawi, a former prisoner, complained of cancer symptoms in 2015 until he was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. Due to medical negligence, he eventually passed away in February 2020. 

According to rights groups, Jau prison has only two physicians on staff (1 per shift), and no more than 2-3 medical staff on duty at any given time. Those are general practitioners, not specialists – such as dental, sickle-cell anemia, multiple sclerosis, or cancer. They typically dispense Panadol or Restamol for all complaints. Diagnostic equipment, such as X-ray machines, is lacking.

As a state party to the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules), the government of Bahrain is legally obliged to provide all prisoners who require treatment “the same standards of health care that are available in the community” without discrimination. The failure to provide adequate healthcare violates the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, including under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bahrain is also a state party. 

Related News

13 years after 'Bahrain Forgotten Uprising': Bahrainis are resisting to their best

Worried Bahrain becomes a home for the Zionists: Sheikh Ali Salman, from behind bars

The prison’s unsanitary living conditions were exacerbated upon the outbreak of COVID-19 by the end of March 2021. As a result, Hussein Barakat died; instead of holding the perpetrators accountable, the prison administration warned the prisoners not to mention the issue or their calls would be immediately cut off and punitively suspended.

Indeed, no criticism of the policy of systematic medical negligence is permissible; this is perfectly in line with the refusal to tolerate any dissidence whatsoever.

Besides, sectarian discrimination is common in Jau prison; political prisoners are continually prohibited from practicing their religious rituals while their belongings are arbitrarily confiscated.

In 2011, pro-democracy peaceful protests broke out across the tiny archipelago centered in the Gulf and ruled by the Al Khalifa dynasty. The protesters demanded that the ruling family relinquish power and allow a just system representing all citizens to be established.

Yet, the protests were heavy-handedly put out by the government, which killed, tortured, and arrested hundreds of citizens, rights campaigners, clerics, medics, academics, athletes, elites, and opposition leaders, many of whom are serving life sentences and suffer from severe medical complications as a result of torture and willful medical neglect.

The government has also broken up major opposition parties, revoked the nationality of several pro-democracy activists, and deported those made stateless. There no longer exist any independent media since Al-Wasat newspaper was shut down in June 2017, not to mention the dissolution of every political association, including Al Wefaq. The government has further manipulated surveillance; every publication on social networks is subject to censorship.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Bahrain Uprising
  • Bahrain political prisoners
  • Bahraini prisoners
  • Bahrain Human Rights Violations
  • Bahraini opposition
  • Bahrain
  • Bahraini Coalition of February 14th
  • Jau Prison
Sondoss Al Asaad

Sondoss Al Asaad

Lebanese journalist

Most Read

All
Declassified: CIA’s covert Ukraine invasion plan

Declassified: CIA’s covert Ukraine invasion plan

  • Opinion
  • 16 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Palestine will not be liberated by UN reports, but by pursuing a different strategic horizon: one that does not beg for recognition. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Economy of Genocide: Albanese's report accuses, but doesn't dismantle system

  • Opinion
  • 18 Aug 2025
Those in Occupied Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria – directly affected by Israeli occupation and apartheid – can claim their right to armed struggle under a series of UN resolutions. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Resistance and regime change in occupied Palestine

  • Opinion
  • 17 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
13 years after 'Bahrain Forgotten Uprising': Bahrainis are resisting to their best

13 years after 'Bahrain Forgotten Uprising': Bahrainis are resisting to their best

Worried Bahrain becomes a home for the Zionists: Sheikh Ali Salman, from behind bars

Worried Bahrain becomes a home for the Zionists: Sheikh Ali Salman, from behind bars

The temporary occupation erroneously thinks banning Al Mayadeen would emerge victorious

The temporary occupation erroneously thinks banning Al Mayadeen would emerge victorious

Hezbollah Al-Qassam Gaza Lebanon

Hochstein is in Beirut to save the failed 'Israel'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS