URGENT ACTION

PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE DENIED MEDICAL ACCESS

Hajer Mansoor Hassan, aged 50, who is held in Isa Town Detention Centre for Women in Bahrain, is being denied adequate medical care. Hajer Mansoor is the mother-in-law of prominent human rights activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who is based in the United Kingdom. She is a prisoner of conscience, who was detained following an unfair trial, staged to silence Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei. In August 2018, Hajer Mansoor discovered a lump in her breast, and although she underwent medical tests including a mammogram, she was not informed of the results. Hajer fears that the lump might be cancerous, and her repeated requests to be referred for medical check-ups have been ignored. Meanwhile, the Cassation Court is expected to issue its verdict into her three-year prison sentence, on February 25.  

TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER

Minister of Interior Shaikh Rashid bin ‘Abdullah Al Khalifa 
Ministry of Interior
P.O. Box 13, al-Manama, Bahrain
Fax: +973 1723 2661
Twitter: @moi_Bahrain 
Your Excellency,

In August 2018, Hajer Mansoor Hassan, who is serving a three-year prison sentence in Isa Town Detention Centre for women, discovered a lump in her breast for which she underwent medical tests including a mammogram. However, she has still not been informed of the results, and she fears that the lump may be cancerous. The prison authorities have been ignoring her requests to be referred to a specialist. Her family has taken it upon themselves to arrange for a medical appointment in a private clinic, on 27 February 2019. 

The Court of Cassation has also scheduled to issue its verdict in the case of Hajer, on 25 February 2019. She is a prisoner of conscience who was subjected to an unfair trial on trumped up charges in an attempt to silence her son-in-law, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who is based in the United Kingdom. 

We call on the Bahraini authorities to ensure that her conviction and sentence are quashed and that she is immediately and unconditionally released. In the meantime, we call upon you to order the prison authorities to facilitate Hajer’s attendance to this appointment, and ensure she receives access to adequate medical care as necessary and in a timely manner.

Yours sincerely,

Additional information

Hajer (also spelt Hajar) Mansoor Hassan, aged 50, is the mother-in-law of Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the Director of Advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD). Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei is based in the UK since 2012. The Bahraini authorities have since been persecuting him and his family.
On 5 March 2017, Hajer Mansoor was arrested three days after the arrests of her son Sayed Nizar (also spelt Nazar) Alwadaei and their cousin, Mahmood Marzooq Mansoor. On 30 October 2017, all three were convicted on charges of “planting fake bombs” on 28 January 2017 in an area southwest of Manama, Bahrain’s capital, after a grossly unfair trial in which they say they were tortured to “confess”. Their sentences were upheld on appeal on 20 December 2017.
Sayed Nizar Alwadaei has also been facing two other unfair trials and could be imprisoned for a total of 11 years. 
On 7 January 2019, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) published an Opinion that found the imprisonment of Hajer Mansoor, Sayed Nizar and Mahmood Marzooq Mansoor to be arbitrary. It also noted that they were “deprived of their liberty, interrogated and prosecuted for their family ties with Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei”. 
On 16 September 2018, Hajer and two other prisoners were physically assaulted by prison guards as they attempted to join other detainees for practicing Ashura commemoration rites. Hajer subsequently suffered a dangerous drop in her blood glucose level and had to be transferred to hospital. Hajer in particular, has been active in protesting poor treatment in the prison.
Complaints about the assault and Hajer’s denial of medical care have been lodged with the human rights oversight bodies. On 1 October 2018, the National Institution for Human Rights issued a statement in which it “found that the incident was within the limits of reasonable use of force and the intervention was to guarantee the safety of the inmate and others”.
Bahrain’s prison system is marred by regular instances of negligence, delay, and arbitrary exercise of authority, which in specific cases rise to the level of intentional ill-treatment, and which result in an overall lack of adequate care for detainees and prisoners. Medical treatment is provided within the prison system, but is far below the level of need and is frequently subject to bad-faith, disruptions, delays, and denial. Bahrain has the professional and financial resources to provide adequate health care to all prisoners. In multiple instances, though, it has failed to do so, not for lack of capacity but as a matter of deliberate denial of treatment.
PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: English or Arabic
You can also write in your own language.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 5 April 2019
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PREFERRED PRONOUN: Hajer Mansoor Hassan (she/her)

Additional TARGETS

And copies to:

King 
Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa  
Office of His Majesty the King 
P.O. Box 555 
Rifa’a Palace, al-Manama, Bahrain 
Fax: +973 1766 4587 
Salutation: Your Majesty 

Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs 
Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa 
Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs 
P. O. Box 450, al-Manama, Bahrain 
Fax: +973 1753 1284
Twitter: @Khaled_Bin_Ali 
Salutation: Your Excellency 

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. His Excellency Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, 30 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8QB, Tel: 0207 201 9170, Fax 020 7201 9183, Email: information@bahrainembassy.co.uk or through the online contact form at http://www.bahrainembassy.co.uk/ Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.