Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

Lengthy Hunger Strike by Bahraini Activist Protesting Prison Conditions Concerns Family

Abduljalil al-Singace taking part in March of royal court in Riffa

Abduljalil al-Singace taking part in March of royal court in Riffa

Dr. Abdul Jalil Al-Singace, a former professor of mechanical engineering and human rights activist, has been in jail under conditions he considers to be inhumane. His hunger strike has been ongoing since March 2nd, according to reports, and his family is gravely concerned about his health.

CCS asked Bahraini authorities to investigate Dr. Al Singace’s situation and prison conditions for political prisoners.

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His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa
King of Bahrain
Office of his Majesty the King
PO Box 555, Rifa’a Palace, Manama
Kingdom of Bahrain

April 16, 2015

Your Majesty:

We are writing you in concern for Professor Abdul Jalil Al-Singace.

Professor Al-Singace, a scholar of mechanical engineering at the University of Bahrain since 1995, was sentenced to life in prison on allegations stemming from his reporting publicly on Bahrain’s human rights situation. We are writing to you now because we understand from Dr. Al-Singace’s family that he has been on a hunger strike since March 22 and his family is extremely concerned about his health and general treatment as a prisoner. Dr. Al Singace is wheelchair bound.

We respectfully urge you to investigate this situation at once and to assure that Dr. Al-Singace has immediate access to appropriate medical care. We understand that the prison conditions that he is protesting involve insults, intimidation, and invasive restraints of Dr. Al-Singace and of other political prisoners. Please investigate these allegations and assure Al-Singace and fellow prisoners appropriate humane treatment, as required under Bahraini and international law.

We wrote previously to Bahraini authorities because from the information that we had, it would appear that Dr. Al-Singace’s arrest and subsequent sentencing to life in prison were due to the peaceful exercise of his fundamental rights protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bahrain has acceded. We continue to be concerned about the fairness of his sentence.

We appreciate your immediate attention to this important matter and look forward to your earliest reply.

Sincerely,

Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich,
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer

Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

Copies to:

Minister of Interior Shaikh Rashid bin ‘Abdullah Al Khalifa
Ministry of Interior
PO Box 13, Manama
Kingdom of Bahrain

His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa
Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs
Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs
PO Box 450, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Email minister@justice.gov.bh

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Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

Myles Axton, Chief Editor, Genetics and Genomics Next

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Giorgio Parisi, Roma I University La Sapienza

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs*

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Former Honorary Board Members

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deseased) Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser (deceased), Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy (deceased), University of Pittsburgh

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

Louis Nirenberg (deceased), New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Myriam Sarachick (deceased), City College of New York

Harold Scheraga (deceased), Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Steven Weinberg (deceased), University of Texas, Austin*

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 273
Mountainhome, PA 18342
abender@concernedscientists.org