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48-year-old Husain Barakat (Husain Barakat) died after contracting the virus in Jau Prison, which began an outbreak of coronavirus disease in March.
The Ministry of the Interior and activists said on Wednesday that a political prisoner serving a life sentence in Bahrain died after contracting COVID-19 because the Gulf countries are fighting a surge in infections.
Bahrain is under pressure from human rights organizations due to prison conditions (including overcrowding, poor sanitation and lack of medical care).
Since the outbreak of the disease in Jau, Bahrain’s main prison, in March, families have been holding small protests demanding the release of political prisoners and improving conditions. After the prisoners protested the conditions, there was a violent confrontation between the guards and the prisoners in April.
The Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday that 48-year-old Husain Barakat was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in March and died after contracting the virus.
It stated that he was taken from prison to Salmaniya Hospital on May 29. Barakat’s family said he was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit.
The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), a human rights organization based in the United Kingdom, stated that Barakat was a political prisoner held in Jau.
BIRD said that Barakat was sentenced to life imprisonment along with 53 other people in 2018 and was accused by the authorities of being a “terrorist” cell in a large-scale trial of 138 defendants.
BIRD stated that he was also deprived of his citizenship and later restored his citizenship by royal decree.
His son was also arrested at the age of 16 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Ministry of the Interior stated that Barakat received regular medical care in prison and received phone calls.
The father of Bahraini human rights activist Maryam Khawaja, who was imprisoned in Jau, said that Barakat told his wife in his last phone call that he could not breathe and was “dying.”
“I’m dying, I can’t breathe”-political prisoner Hussain Barakat (Hussain Barakat) said to his wife in the last phone call before his death this morning #Coronavirus disease Complications in Jau Prison #Bahrain
That’s the prison where my father is https://t.co/H8KHlLF2L7
— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) June 9, 2021
The Euro-Mediterranean Monitoring Organization in the Gulf region called for an immediate independent investigation of this incident.
“Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Bahraini prisons, despite calling on the authorities to take stricter measures to prevent the spread of the virus among the detainees, the detainees have not received medical care, the preventive measures in the prison have not been implemented, and the authorities continue to implement deliberate medical care. Negligent policy,” the inspector said on Twitter.
Since the virus outbreak #Corona In the prison #Two seasAlthough all parties called on the authorities to increase efforts to prevent the spread of the virus among the detainees, the authorities did not provide medical care for the detainees, failed to take preventive measures in prisons as required, and continued to implement the deliberate medical policy. Ignore.
-Euro Med Monitor in the Gulf Region (@euromedgulf) June 9, 2021
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the disbanded Bahraini opposition group al-Wefaq has been calling for the release of prisoners of conscience.
Bahrain has released some prisoners deemed at risk, such as pregnant women, in response to the epidemic.
In mid-to-late May, the number of new COVID-19 cases per day surged to a record high, with more than 3,000 new cases per day, compared with less than 200 new cases per day at the end of last year. Bahrain said on Tuesday that it had recorded 1,279 new cases, including 18 deaths.
The Bahraini government denies torture in prisons, but said it has provided vaccinations to all prisoners and has taken appropriate measures to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic.
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