Profile in Persecution: Ali Fadhel Abbas

Up to date: Ali Fadhel Abbas, a 21-year-old storage employee, was arbitrarily arrested in 2019 at Bahrain Worldwide Airport upon coming back from Iraq, the place he visited the shrine of Imam Husain on the fortieth day of his martyrdom. Throughout his detention, he endured torture, pressured disappearance, and medical neglect. At the moment, he’s held at Jau jail, serving a five-year sentence following an unfair trial.

When Ali arrived on the airport on 31 October 2019, he was questioned about his journey. Civilian officers from the passport division arrested Ali with out presenting an arrest warrant, and he was subsequently transferred to the Prison Investigations Directorate (CID) for additional investigation. Ali skilled enforced disappearance throughout the preliminary hours of his arrest. His household grew to become conscious of his arrest by his pals who had been with him; they weren’t formally notified of his arrest. A number of hours after his arrest, the household acquired a name from Ali, informing them that he was on the CID. Notably, Ali had been summoned for interrogation a number of occasions earlier than his arrest.

In the course of the investigations, CID officers questioned Ali about people who had participated in demonstrations and expressed dissent in opposition to the system. Regardless of the stress, Ali persistently maintained that he didn’t know their names and had not engaged in any actions associated to the revolution or assemblies. Subsequently, he was transferred to the “Interrogations Constructing” (Constructing 15) of Jau Jail, the place officers interrogated and tortured him for eight days, with classes lasting for 9 to 11 hours every day.

After 17 days from his preliminary arrest, Ali was moved to the CID in Adliya and remained there for 15 days earlier than being transferred to the Dry Dock Detention Middle. On the onset of the interrogation, Ali didn’t have authorized illustration, and thus, he lacked entry to authorized counsel. Even after appointing a lawyer, his lawyer was nonetheless denied the fitting to attend the investigation. It was solely 23 days after his arrest that Ali was introduced earlier than a choose on the Public Prosecution Workplace (PPO).

Regardless of enduring a month of torture following his arrest, Ali didn’t confess. He was lastly allowed to contact his household for the primary time whereas being at Dry Dock Detention Middle.

Ali has been accused of becoming a member of a terrorist group and receiving funds and fireworks for it, with the alleged intention of disrupting the Bahraini Structure and legal guidelines and stopping state establishments and public authorities from fulfilling their mission. On 3 November 2020, the preliminary ruling was issued in opposition to Ali by the First Excessive Prison Court docket, convicting him in absentia in a mass trial that included 52 defendants. The fees included becoming a member of a terrorist group, receiving funds and fireworks, and transporting and storing explosives for terrorist functions. Consequently, he was sentenced to 5 years in jail. Ali appealed the ruling, however the Court docket of Attraction rejected the enchantment and upheld the preliminary choice on 11 April 2021. Subsequently, the Court docket of Cassation additionally rejected the enchantment on 12 July 2021.

In the course of the Coronavirus outbreak, household visits had been changed with video calls. Initially, Ali recurrently contacted his dad and mom, however because the pandemic progressed, he communicated with them as soon as each two to a few weeks. In September 2020, scabies unfold amongst prisoners within the Dry Dock Detention Middle as a consequence of a brand new inmate affected by it, leading to Ali getting contaminated. On 12 September 2020, Ali knowledgeable his household that his situation had worsened and requested them to deliver him drugs. His situation improved after utilizing the medication. Nevertheless, not like different inmates who had been later transferred to their cells, Ali was moved to a cell shared with international prisoners with whom he couldn’t talk. Regardless of the unfold of the coronavirus, Ali was not supplied with any protecting measures, corresponding to masks or gloves.

In August 2023, Ali took half in a collective starvation strike alongside a major variety of prisoners inside Jau Jail. The starvation strike endured for nearly a month and aimed to protest in opposition to the worsening circumstances, ill-treatment, and medical neglect prevailing contained in the jail.

Ali’s arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, unfair trial, detention in inhumane and unhealthy circumstances, and medical neglect violate each the Bahraini Structure and the worldwide obligations to which Bahrain is social gathering. Specifically, the Conference in opposition to Torture and Different Merciless, Inhuman or Degrading Remedy or Punishment (CAT), the Worldwide Covenant on Financial, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Worldwide Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Since an arrest warrant was not offered, and provided that Ali was convicted in absentia in a mass trial that lacked the minimal requirements of truthful trial and was based mostly on false confessions extracted beneath torture, we will conclude that he was arbitrarily detained by Bahraini authorities.

Accordingly, Individuals for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) calls upon Bahrain to uphold its human rights obligations by instantly and unconditionally releasing Ali. It additionally calls on Bahrain to analyze all allegations of torture, enforced disappearance, and medical neglect to make sure accountability. Moreover, ADHRB calls on Bahrain to supply compensation for all of the violations Ali endured whereas in jail or, at a minimal, to conduct a good retrial resulting in his launch.