Human rights organizations have urgently called on Bahraini authorities to take immediate action to save the lives of hunger-striking prisoners in their jails. The program “Jaafar Talk,” hosted by journalist Jaafar Abdul Karim on Germany’s DW Television, presented firsthand testimonies from inside these prisons, revealing the inhumane treatment endured by those incarcerated.
The program aired an audio recording from a political prisoner in Bahrain’s “Jaw Prison” dated 21-8-2023. The prisoner recounted how after taking another inmate named “Ahmed Jaafar” to the clinic, the guards assaulted him in the transport vehicle and subsequently placed him in solitary confinement, with his hands and feet bound behind him. For seven days, due to the severe pain, Ahmed has been unable to pray or even visit the restroom. His deteriorating health is a direct result of his ongoing hunger strike.
According to the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, as of 5/9/2023, Ahmed Jaafar was subjected to this treatment after requesting to meet the officer in charge of him. He remained restrained and isolated in solitary confinement for over two weeks. Ahmed is one of 800 political prisoners currently on hunger strike in Bahraini prisons.
Ahmed Al-Sayed, the director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, stated that this testimony reflects the horrifying treatment political prisoners face in Jaw Central Prison, the largest prison in the country. The prison houses over 2,600 inmates, with a third of them on hunger strike, marking the largest such protest in Bahrain’s history.
Human Rights Watch has reported that the prisoners are demanding basic rights, including medical care, an end to solitary confinement, and the ability to perform their prayers. Many of them are subjected to inhumane treatment. The organization has urged Bahraini authorities to immediately release anyone imprisoned solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
Bahraini authorities claim that only 121 prisoners are on hunger strike and that they are provided with daily medical check-ups. They deny targeting the opposition and assert that they prosecute criminals according to the country’s laws.
The report also showed footage of a street protest by the families of the prisoners, demanding their rights. Despite the families’ pleas for the basic rights of their loved ones, many of whom are political prisoners subjected to unfair trials and torture, there has been no significant response from the Jaw prison administration.
Since the 2011 protests that coincided with the Arab Spring uprisings, Bahrain has arrested thousands of individuals, with many fleeing abroad. Reuters reported that the hunger-striking political prisoners in Bahrain have rejected governmental concessions and are expanding their protests, increasing tensions in the most significant confrontation in years between the opposition and the Saudi-backed ruling family.