Ali Mushaima, the son of Bahraini opposition leader and political detainee Hassan Mushaima, has reached the 21st day of his hunger strike. Ali has been camped outside the Bahraini Embassy in London throughout his hunger strike.
Mushaima is protesting against the continued detention of his father in Bahrain, and that of academic and activist Abduljalil al-Singace. Both men were sentenced to life in prison following their participation in the 2011 pro-democracy protests in the country.
Dr al-Singace has spent the last decade in prison. He was amongst 13 opposition activists arrested between March and April 2011, and later convicted on various charges relating to their role in those protests. All 13 were tried by a military tribunal.
Ali Mushaima maintained a 44-day hunger strike previously, in 2018. He lost 16kg, and secured medication for the treatment of his father’s cancer.
On his current hunger strike, Ali has told journalists that, “I felt it was time to take matters into my own hands and demand that the UK act to save Singace and release him, along with my father and all political prisoners in Bahrain, once and for all.”
Ali’s Bahraini nationality was withdrawn after he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. He came to Britain as a political refugee in 2006.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, has said that, “I salute the courage, bravery and determination that Ali is showing in this freezing weather, all in order to shed light on a decade of injustices inflicted upon Dr Singace and his father, Hassan Mushaima.”
Hassan Mushaima and Dr al-Singace have been held in the same medical facility since July of this year. Both allege that the Bahraini prison authorities have inflicted various forms of abuse against them.
A number of members of the British parliament have visited Ali’s camp outside the Bahraini embassy.
In March of this year, the EU’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to condemn the human rights situation in Bahrain, including the repression of human-rights activists, and the use of torture against detainees.
Ali Mushaima’s hunger strike continues.
