MANAMA (Middle East Eye) – The United Nations has found that a leading pro-democracy activist in Bahrain should never have been arrested and has called for his immediate release, nearly a decade after he was imprisoned.
In an report released this month, the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has said there was “no legal basis” to justify Naji Fateel’s arrest and that, upon his release, Bahraini authorities should investigate his arbitrary detention and alleged torture.
“The working group notes with alarm the severity of the torture alleged,” the UN says. “It urges the government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Fateel and ensure that he receives medical care.”
Fateel, now 48, was a board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and a blogger dedicated to documenting violations when he was arrested in May 2013 over his protest activities.
He was tortured severely for days during which he lost consciousness and needed hospital treatment twice.
Under threat of sustained torture and denied a lawyer, he has said he signed papers that he was not allowed to read.
That year, he was convicted in two mass trials that were criticized by UN experts for failing to meet international standards.
He has been held in Jau Prison ever since, allegedly subject to further torture and ongoing medical neglect.
This month’s opinion is the third time since 2017 that a UN entity has called for his release.
Speaking by phone from Bahrain, his wife, Fatima Fateel, welcomed the findings, but said it was hard to allow herself to imagine his release.
When he went into prison, Fateel’s fifth child, Nidal, was under two. Nine years later, Fateel has become a grandfather, four times over.
“I want to be hopeful, but I don’t want to be hopeful all the time,” Fatima told Middle East Eye. “I have big hopes and then nothing happens and I get frustrated and upset.”
Sayed Alwadaei, director of advocacy with the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), which filed the claim that initiated the working group’s investigation, said the outcome was “the best we can hope for”.
“You have a recognizable body that reviewed our claim and the government’s claim and made an opinion and that opinion is extremely strong in favor of the prisoner,” he said.
Anti-monarchy demonstrations in Bahrain began in mid-February 2011 and have gained momentum over the years. The demonstrators demand that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power, and a democratic, just system representing all Bahrainis be established in the country.
The unpopular Manama regime, however, has responded to demands for social equality with an iron fist, ruthlessly clamping down on dissent.
On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of anti-regime activists at military tribunals in a measure the human rights campaigners said amounted to the imposition of an undeclared martial law.
The Bahraini monarch, King Hamad, ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3, 2017, bringing about further suppression of political dissent on the tiny Persian Gulf island under the strong influence of the Saudi regime.