Detainee Al-Fardan: Tolerance Doesn't Include You

2023-08-11 - 2:44 p

Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Bahrain's ruling family can tolerate all religious and cultural trends, and interact with various humanitarian situations, except the demands of political detainees who are denied their basic rights.

Habib Ali Al-Fardan's audio message has once again sparked outrage around the catastrophe of depriving political detainees of their basic rights to medical care and treatment by law.

Al-Fardan expressed in an audio message his concern that he might be living the last days of his life with his deteriorating health due to a brain tumor that disrupts key functions, including vision, memory and concentration.

Al-Fardan hoped to be released to spend the rest of his life with his family, his 10-year-old daughter (she was two at the time of his arrest), and his elderly mother.

Why doesn't the government demonstrate some of its claims of tolerance towards these humanitarian situations and release prisoners like Al-Fardan? What about the King and his government officials' speeches about tolerance? Why is it not reflected in their handling of prison conditions?

Apart from the lack of tolerance, detainees are denied even the implementation of the written established law, as all international laws and conventions affirm that the right to life takes precedence over all penalties, and if the prison sentence contradicts the detainee's right to life, the detainee has the right to benefit from special amnesty.

Unfortunately, these conventions do not apply to those detained because of their political opinions, as they are punished with the harshest penalties, and their humanitarian cases are not sympatheticized with. As a result, many detainees have lost their lives due to the authorities' militancy.

Among those detainees who lost their lives were Sayed Kazem Abbas, who suffered from a brain tumor and was released on the verge of death, as well as former detainee Ali Qambar, who died of the same illness, among other detainees.

The deteriorating humanitarian conditions in prison reveal the falsehood of these statements about tolerance, as the rhetoric does not reflect on the conditions of detainees, who are denied their right to treatment and release on humanitarian grounds.

There is no place for humanity if it comes to those demanding political rights in Bahrain, as they are slowly executed in prisons with the weapon of denying treatment, meanwhile the government is paying millions to improve a dark human rights image that can be whitewashed with only one signature.

Arabic Version