The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) condemns the deprivation of adequate medical care of detainees in Jaw Prison, including in cases where the detainees are suffering from serious diseases. The BCHR has regularly documented the refusal by prison officials to give the detainees the medical assistance that they need.
For example, Mohammed Faraj (21 years old) was arrested on 27 October 2014, when he was sentenced to 10 years on charges of alleged “criminal burning and illegal gathering,” which was reduced upon appeal to 7 years on 26 January 2015. He was arrested at the court where he presented himself in a wheelchair.
Since then, he has been detained at Jaw Prison. According to medical reports obtained by BCHR, Faraj is suffering from a rare disease called Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. Before his arrest, he was receiving treatment at the neurology clinic in Salmaniya Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Issa Al-Shroogi. His disease requires injection treatments three times a week and a regular intake of medicine. However, the administration at Jaw Prison refuses to accept the injections and medicine that his family has tried to provide many times. As Faraj’s disease has worsened, his lawyer, Sami Siadi, has submitted two letters to the judge in question requesting a suspension of the prison sentence. However, this request has not been answered despite the fact that Faraj continues facing serious risks such as sight loss and paralysis.
Based on the above, the BCHR calls on governments and international organizations to put pressure on the government of Bahrain to:
- Provide Mohamed Faraj and all prisoners with adequate, and timely, access to medical treatment; and
- End the practice of denying prisoners medical attention as a means of intimidation and punishment for exercising their human rights.