12 February 2016

Bahrain: Student with Multiple Sclerosis Detained Without Medical Care

Jaw Prison Jaw Prison

On 26 January 2015, 21-year-old student Mohamed Faraj, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was arrested from the courtroom after being sentenced by Bahrain's Fourth Criminal Court to seven years imprisonment for arson, illegal gathering and rioting. Mohamed was taken in his wheelchair to the Jaw prison, known for its "severe abuses" of prisoners, to serve his sentence. Concerned over his health, as he does not receive adequate medical treatment for his condition, Alkarama together with the Bahrain Forum for Human Rights sent on 12 February 2016 a communication to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (SR Health), Dainius Pūras, requesting him to call upon the Bahraini authorities to provide Mohamed with adequate treatment.

Mohamed's situation deteriorated when, shortly after his arrest, in March 2015, members of the riot police stormed into the Jaw Prison following an outbreak of riots and tortured numerous prisoners, including Mohamed who was not only beaten but also subjected to sleep deprivation and extreme temperatures. Severely wounded, Mohamed was allowed to see the prison doctor but was still not presented to a specialist, leaving his multiple sclerosis untreated.

Worried that he may die without appropriate treatment, Mohamed's family, which is allowed to visit him monthly, submitted a complaint to Bahrain's General Secretariat of Grievances on 12 March 2015 and to its National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) on 15 March 2015, but to no avail. Left without remedy at the national level, the family turned to Alkarama and the Bahrian Forum for Human Rights in the hope that their work with the UN human rights mechanisms may lead the Bahraini authorities to grant Mohamed the most basic care for his condition, that is access to a specialist and to medication for his condition.

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