Abduljalil Abdulla al-Singace ( ar, عبدالجليل عبدالله السنكيس, born January 15, 1962) is a Bahraini engineer, blogger, and human rights activist. He was arrested in 2009 and 2010 for his human rights activities and released later. In 2011, he was arrested, allegedly tortured and sexually abused, and sentenced to life imprisonment for pro-democracy activism during the
Bahraini uprising.
Background
Abduljalil Alsingace is an engineer by training and was an associate professor of engineering at the
University of Bahrain
The University of Bahrain ( ar, جامعة البحرين , informally Bahrain University, abbreviated as UOB) is the largest public university in the Kingdom of Bahrain with campuses in Sakhir, Isa Town and Manama, the university has more than ...
.
Until 2005, he was the chief of mechanical engineering department when he was demoted by the head of university. Alsingace family say the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
was behind this decision, due to Alsingace's human rights activity.
Disability
Alsingace was disabled at a young age and usually uses a wheelchair or crutches.
Activism
Alsingace was
Al Wefaq
Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest co ...
's member of the board of directors.
He resigned in 2005 and joined the newly formed
Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy becoming the head of its Human Rights Bureau and its official spokesman.
[ Alsingace began to operate a blog titled "Al-Faseelah", critical of a perceived lack of freedom in Bahrain. During a visit of ]George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
to Bahrain in 2008, Alsingance attempted to present him with a petition of 80,000 signatures protesting his description of Bahrain as a democracy and demanding the "right to draft a democratic constitution". In January 2009, he was arrested on charges that he had participated in a "terror plot" and that his blog articles had "incited hatred against the regime". His blog was also blocked by authorities in February of that year, leading the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; ar, مركز البحرين لحقوق الإنسان) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain, to begin a letter-writing campaign calling for authorities "to respect freedom of expression, particularly for human rights defenders". Alsingace was soon released following "international and local pressure", and was eventually given a royal pardon.[
In June 2009, Alsingace wrote an op-ed for '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' calling on Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
not to talk to the Muslim world about democracy unless he truly meant to pursue it.
2010 arrest
In August 2010, he spoke at a conference at the British House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
, at which he criticized Bahrain's handling of human rights issues. On landing at Bahrain International Airport
Bahrain International Airport ( ar, مطار البحرين الدولي, ''maṭār al-Baḥrayn al-dwalī'') is the international airport of Bahrain. Located on Muharraq Island, adjacent to the capital Manama, it serves as the hub for the nati ...
with his family on 13 August, he was arrested. A security official stated that Alsingance had "abused the freedom of opinion and expression prevailing in the kingdom". Government officials later stated that Alsingance had been arrested for "inciting violence and terrorist acts". Alsingance was represented by Mohammed al-Tajer
Mohammed Issa al-Tajer ( ar, محمد عيسى التاجر) is a Bahraini human rights lawyer detained in April 2011, apparently for his role in defending Arab Spring protesters.
In early 2011, following the self-immolation of young Tunisian mer ...
, who would himself be arrested by security forces the following year.
Alsingace was held incommunicado until February 2011,[ during which time he alleges that he suffered "physical and mental torture" as well as solitary confinement at the hands of authorities. He was briefly released before being re-arrested in March, following the widespread protests of the ]2011-2012 Bahraini uprising
The 2011 Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and prot ...
.
2011 arrest
On 17 March, two days after protesters were evacuated from the Pearl Roundabout
The GCC Roundabout, known as Pearl Roundabout or Lulu Roundabout (Arabic language, Arabic: ', "Roundabout of the pearl(s)" was a roundabout located near the Central business district, financial district of Manama, Bahrain. The roundabout was nam ...
, Alsingace was arrested. His family said that on the middle of night about four dozens of police, some masked in plainclothes and some speaking Saudi accent broke into their house. A family member stated that Alsingace was beaten inside his house and on the street during the arrest, and he "saw them drag bdul Jalilin his underwear and without his glasses, with a gun pointed at his head". His eldest son, Husain (28 years old) was arrested the next week and sentenced by a military court to seven years in prison on 6 October.
Imprisonment and mistreatment
Alsingace was first taken to police station for few hours before being moved to Al Qurain military prison. According to his family, one month after his arrest, Alsingace was allowed to make a ninety-second phone call to them, and another one the following month. A Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), also known locally in Bahrain as the Bassiouni Commission, was established by the King of Bahrain on 29 June 2011''Bahrain News Agency''" HM King Hamad Sets up Royal Independent Investigation co ...
(BICI) report revealed that Alsingace was verbally and physically abused, and sexually assaulted, losing more than 10kg and suffering from multiple health problems as a result. According to the report, he was beaten on daily basis, and he told his daughter that he was raped and sexually abused by "finger thrust into his anus."
Despite being handicapped, Alsingace was forced to stand on his good leg without crutches for prolonged periods, put in solitary confinement for two months in a 2m x 3m dark cell and humiliated by being forced to "lick the shoes and wipe them on his face". Alsingace also stated at his trial that his prescription glasses and medications had been taken from him for nine weeks.
Trial
He was brought to trial by the military National Safety Court in June 2011 and charged with "plotting to topple" the government, receiving a life sentence. The appeals chamber of the National Safety Court upheld the sentence on 28 September.
Responding to the verdict, the Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journ ...
condemned the Bahraini government's "stunning disregard for due process and basic human rights". Reporters Without Borders also protested Alsingace's sentence, stating that his only crime was "freely expressing opinions contrary to those of the government".[ ]English PEN
Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associat ...
described its organization as "shocked" by the sentence and began a letter campaign calling for Alsingance's "immediate and unconditional release". Dutch European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
member Marietje Schaake has also spoken out in protest of Alsingace's imprisonment. The Bahraini Press Association described the verdict as "unfair and outrageous", "marred by abuses and violations of all legal and human rights standards".
Support
On 13 August 2022, several human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
organizations released a joint statement urging the King of Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad bin 'Issa Al Khalifa, to immediately release ailing al-Singace.
References
External links
Al-Faseela, Alsingace's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singace, Abduljalil
Bahraini bloggers
Bahraini dissidents
Bahraini engineers
Bahraini human rights activists
Living people
University of Bahrain faculty
1965 births
Bahraini prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Bahrain