Has Coronavirus Reached Jaw Prison? Why Have Authorities Excluded Prisoners from the Vaccine?

2021-02-11 - 12:54 ص

Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Has the coronavirus reached Jaw Central Prison? This question has been repeated since yesterday by law experts and people following the prisoners' conditions. The other question is why the authorities have excluded inmates from the Coronavirus vaccination campaign?

Since yesterday, a letter has been circulating, a living testimony on the conditions of inmates in building 15, Ward 2, in which one of the prisoners says "On Thursday, February 4, 2021, the building witnessed several cases of fainting among inmates of cell ward 5, namely Faisal (of Indian nationality) and Mustafa Ghaloum, as well as another person we could not figure out whom. They were transferred to an unknown destination, and we do not know their fate, nor have we been able to know the real reasons behind the fainting cases until now."

He goes on to say that "On Friday, February 5, 2021, the sunbathing field was closed as well as all the prison cells. Also, the policemen on duty stopped entering the prison cells. Lunch meals were delayed until the evening of the same day, as one of the inmates was allowed access to lunch meals and distribute them among prisoners after evening prayer without the presence of any police officer on duty, who communicated with the inmates through loudspeakers and opened the door of the ward remotely through the control room. Moreover, police officers only communicated with prisoners through loudspeakers throughout the day without the usual personal presence in the ward and without explaining the reasons."

"On Friday evening, February 5, 2021, dinner meals were given to detainees late. The nurse responsible for dispensing the daily medications, who is supposed to visit the prison daily according to the prison policy and laws to dispense medications and injections for each inmate, didn't show up also," the prisoner adds.

"Since Friday, February 5, 2021 until today, the policemen have not yet made a count check in Ward 2, a routine procedure performed by the prison administration twice a day. However, they communicated with inmates over the loudspeakers frequently and suspiciously asking them: Is there any sick prisoner among you?"

"On Monday, February 8, 2021, one of the officers visited ward 2 and threatened the prisoners to not talk about the ward conditions through video call, which the prison administration organized."

Therefore, the inmates in building 2 are living in mysterious circumstances and do not know their exact fate. They believe that the Coronavirus may have spread among the inmates in the ward, especially since prisoners have not yet been given the vaccine for the virus, as the authorities have excluded them from the campaign to vaccinate citizens and residents of Bahrain.

In fact, political prisoners, especially in Bahrain, have been suffering from obvious medical negligence and have been suffering from it for a long time. However, amid the outbreak of this virus, prisoners are being neglected even more now.

Arabic Version