Many may have been surprised by the recent releases of nearly 150 political prisoners, because Bahrainis are used to nothing but oppression, persecution, injustice, imprisonment, torture, murder and hatred from the current tyrant. These are some of his traits that have turned the country into an unbearable hell since he seized power after his father’s death in March 1999. The release of a large number of political detainees is certainly very happy news for them, their families and the people. Some of them spent more than 15 years in the Khalifa torture chambers, and some lost colleagues who shared their cells due to the horrific torture practiced by the tyrant’s henchmen against the free, including Karim Fakhrawi, Ali Saqr, Ali Jassim and more than two hundred others. Others lost some of their relatives outside prison, and may not have been able to attend their funerals. Thus, Hamad bin Isa committed one of the greatest crimes against the homeland and the people, and no measure he takes will lessen the people’s anger. The detainees were imprisoned unjustly and aggressively, and did not commit real crimes punishable by law. What did the youth of Diraz, Bani Jamra, Sitra, Karzakan and others commit other than exercising their natural and constitutional right to express their opinion, protest peacefully and demonstrate? What did those who were not among the prisoners who were freed from the Khalifate restrictions, such as Mr. Hassan, Mr. Abdul Wahab, Sheikh Ali Salman, Dr. Abdul Jalil Al-Singace, Abdul Hadi, Al-Khawaja and the rest of the great symbols, commit?
Hence, the popular position in general was rational, proud and dignified when it refused to offer any thanks to the tyrant who instead deserves to stand before a fair trial to punish him for the crimes he committed over the quarter century he sat on the throne and committed heinous crimes. The free people and heroes stood in reverence and appreciation for the conscious people who the tyrant and his mouthpieces could not lure into giving him appreciation or gratitude after he issued his final decision. On the contrary, the free people were certain that this tyrant deals with people with a divine mentality. He wants to tell the Bahrainis: I can imprison you, and I can release you. I control your destinies, and I can execute whomever I want, as I did with Abbas Al-Samee, Sami Mushaima, Ali Al-Singace and dozens of others. Certainly, the mothers whose hearts were broken by the tyrant felt a degree of happiness to receive their children, but it was a happiness mixed with pain and regret for the lost lives of these young people who were searching for freedom, dignity, the right to self-determination, and to live in humanity, prosperity, and security. The last few days have been heavy on the souls, because they have reopened the deep wounds that the Khalifa rule caused in the souls of citizens, mothers and fathers, youth and children. The humanitarian catastrophe that occurred was never easy, and it will not disappear with the release of hundreds of citizens who were arrested when they were children and young men and came out of prison with white beards and bodies torn apart by disabilities and diseases.
In light of these facts, the following points should be raised:
First: We congratulate the families whose sons were freed from the dungeons of Khalifa torture on their liberation, and we ask God to accept their sacrifices for the sake of truth, justice and the homeland, and to grant them success in rebuilding themselves and securing their future. We call on those who missed the opportunity to learn to find the opportunity to regain what they missed, and to find a job opportunity that covers them and makes them feel their value and their role in building a free and proud Bahrain that builds its glory with the blood of its sons. We call on those who are married to complete their joy by meeting their wives and children, and to build dignified Bahraini families despite the tyrant and his gang.
Second: We support the prisoners who are still languishing behind bars and we pray for them to have more steadfastness, patience and reward, and that they will be released quickly as happened to their colleagues. We know that the hearts of their families are broken with pain as the years pass, but we are confident that they are unbreakable heroes and brave men whose resolve will not be broken by the plots and crimes of the Khalifas. They will be victorious, and our soldiers will be victorious. We pray to God, the Almighty, the Powerful, to break the backs of their jailers and to seize them with the mighty and powerful grip, and to grant them freedom and victory, for He is the All-Hearing, the Answerer of prayers.
Third: We call on the released prisoners to take the initiative to document their experiences behind bars, especially the torture and abuse they suffered after their arrest. We hope that they will be patient with the pain of recalling that suffering, and record its details in detail, and not abbreviate or skip over some facts and truths, no matter how small they may seem. Everything that happened to them can be used as legal evidence against the torturers and executioners and their superiors who ordered them to practice torture or who knew about it and did not prevent it. This is a legal, humane and historical documentation of a dark era in which the Khalifas committed the most heinous atrocities, and they must pay the price for their crimes before the law.
Fourth: We also call upon human rights activists inside and outside the country to intensify communication with released prisoners to urge them to document their testimonies and not hesitate to do so. If this does not happen, the suffering will be repeated later. This is what happened in the past. In 2001, prisoners were released from the Khalifa prisons without documenting their suffering, so it was not possible to prosecute their jailers. The torturers remained in their positions, and as soon as the victorious February 14 Revolution took place, they repeated their practices and doubled the torture at harsher and more severe rates. In order to protect the next generation from being subjected to what the current and previous generations were subjected to, we call upon activists to make efforts to prosecute the perpetrators of torture crimes in a fair and decisive manner.
Fifth: A fixed fact that must not be changed from the minds of the liberated prisoners, their families, and the rest of the people. The issue in Bahrain is primarily political, while imprisonment, abuse, and torture are the results of the political crisis. Unless this crisis is resolved, the tragedies of citizens will be repeated and the arrest of citizens will continue generation after generation. This will not stop except by reforming the political situation in its entirety. As long as the Khalifas are in power, their brutal practices against the Bahrainis will be repeated, and the facts of history confirm this fact through the recurrence of scenes of cruelty, oppression, persecution, and attacks on the people, their sanctities, and their youth without mercy.
The hope is that the people will continue to be aware of the need for political reform and change that will lead to the country’s security and stability. The experiences of the last half century, since the British withdrawal from the region, have proven the ruling family’s inability to keep pace with political and democratic development in the world, and it insisted on ruling according to its tribal heritage, ignoring the aspirations of the Bahraini people who reject marginalization and tyranny. There is no alternative but to return power to the people, who are supposed, even according to the Khalifa constitution, to be the source of authority, and that they are the ones who grant the mandate to their rulers after participating in writing a permanent constitution for the country, as they did after the British withdrawal. What is certain is that this does not please the ruler who thinks he can remain in office supported by his family and regional and Western allies, but he must realize that this was only achieved by opening prisons and detention centers and hanging innocent people on the gallows. Is this an option that will continue? Bloodshed is not an option for a sane person, nor is marginalizing the vast majority of citizens, nor is absolute reliance on external support. Tyrants and dictators have tried these options and fallen, and their people did not shed a tear for them. There is no alternative to radical reform, no choice but to clean up the prisons and apologize to the political detainees, and there is no escape from evading the requirements of all of this, including the trial of the executioners and perpetrators of torture crimes and all those who contributed to the suppression of the people and abandoned the sovereignty of the homeland. The peaceful struggle for this will continue until God decrees a matter that was done. “Indeed, We will take revenge on the criminals.”
O God, have mercy on our righteous martyrs, and grant them a position of truth with You, and release our prisoners, O Lord of the worlds.
Bahrain Islamic Freedom Movement
September 13, 2024
2024-09-12 09:43:50