Dr. Abdul Jalil Al-Singace

Human rights groups called on the Bahraini regime to release Dr. Abdul Jalil al-Singace, an imprisoned academic who has been on a hunger strike since July 8 in protest of his mistreatment.

16 organizations, including "Amnesty International" and the "Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy," indicated that "Al-Singace is serving a life sentence for his participation in the 2011 uprising."

Al-Singace began his hunger strike “in response to the humiliating treatment he was subjected to in prison, after contesting only being allowed to call 5 numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also demanding the return of his book, which he worked on for 4 years, that was confiscated by prison guards last April,” according to a joint statement issued by the organizations.

The statement said that "Al-Singace's book is concerned with the linguistic diversity in the Arabic dialects within Bahrain, and has no political content whatsoever."

The statement concluded, "We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Al-Singace, and for his book to be handed over to his family immediately," noting that the 59-year-old suffers from chronic diseases and faces "continuous medical neglect."

Rights groups urge #Bahrain to reslease Dr. Abduljalil Alsingace, jailed academic on hunger strike: https://t.co/Bpk19JeJYR
— Amnesty Bahrain (@aibahrain) July 30, 2021

Al-Singace was among 13 activists who were arrested following their participation in protests in Bahrain 10 years ago, after the government convicted them on various "charges."

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Marie Lawlor, has previously called on Bahrain to immediately release three human rights defenders, including al-Singace, who are suffering from "prolonged detention due to their human rights and freedom of expression activism."

In early March, 15 human rights organizations demanded the US administration, in a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, to address the tragic decline of human rights in Bahrain.