Bahrain: MEP Phil Bennion (Renew Europe) Issues Written Question on Case of Hajer Mansoor

On November 12, 2019 (updated 27 November 2019) MEP Phil Bennion, from the Renew Europe group has issued a written question to the European Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy regarding the case of Hajer Mansoor who was arrested in 2017 and has since been subjected to a number of punitive measures including the denial of medical treatment.

Mr. Bennion MEP introduced the case of Hajer Mansoor, with her arrest on 31 October 2017 alongside her son Sayed Nizar Alwadaei and her nephew Mahmoud Marzooq Mansoor who were all subsequently sentenced in an unfair trial amounting to three years imprisonment. Ms. Mansoor’s son-in-law, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, is an exiled human rights defender and current director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) based in London, United Kingdom. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) found the detention of Ms. Mansoor’s work to be in reprisal for the work of Mr. Alwadaei, and her case has also been in an annual report by the UN Secretary-General. 

Since in prison, Ms. Mansoor has been subject to numerous accounts of reprisal from the denial of medical care for a lump in her breast and kidney stones, as well as severe beating, and restrictions on family visits.

Due to these serious human rights violations, Mr. Bennion MEP has asked the following questions to the European Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy:

  1. Is the EU aware of Ms. Mansoor’s health condition?
  2. What action will be taken to ensure that Ms Mansoor is granted access to the medical attention she requires?
  3. Has the EU raised concerns of arbitrary detention and reprisal with Bahrain?

The written question has yet to be answered.

The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights welcomes the written question issued by Mr. Bennion MEP (Renew Europe) on the case of Hajer Mansoor, and encourages the European Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to respond to these serious questions on the violation of human rights. 

Please find below a copy of the written question:

Question for written answer
to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Rule 138
Phil Bennion

On 31 October 2017, Hajer Mansoor, her son Sayed Nizar Alwadaei and her nephew Mahmood Marzooq Mansoor were sentenced in an unfair trial to three years’ imprisonment in reprisal for the human rights work of Ms Mansoor’s son-in-law, the exiled human rights defender Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) found Ms Mansoor’s detention to be arbitrary and in reprisal for Mr Alwadaei’s work. Moreover, the UN Secretary-General mentioned her case in his annual report on reprisals against individuals cooperating with the UN in 2018 and 2019. While in prison, Ms Mansoor has been subjected to a series of punitive measures, including the deliberate denial of care for medical issues such as a lump in her breast and kidney stones, and restrictions on family visits and time outside the cell.

Is the EU aware of Ms Mansoor’s health condition?

What action will be taken to ensure that Ms Mansoor is granted access to the medical attention she requires?

Has the EU raised concerns of arbitrary detention and reprisal with Bahrain?