Release Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace after sixteen years in prison
Posted August 31, 2026
Scholars at Risk sent the below letter to Bahraini authorities, urging them to secure the immediate release of Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace. Take action by signing a letter here.
Via email
The Honorable Dr. Ali Bin Fadhel al-Buainain
Attorney General
Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs
August 28, 2026
Re: Release Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace after sixteen years in prison
Your Excellency:
I write on behalf of Scholars at Risk to express grave concern regarding Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, a professor of mechanical engineering who is imprisoned in Bahrain. This month marks sixteen years since Dr. Al-Singace was initially arrested. He has been on a solid-food hunger strike for the past five years after prison authorities confiscated his research manuscripts. We ask you to immediately release Dr. Al-Singace and ensure that he receives the healthcare he urgently needs.
Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of more than 600 universities and colleges in over 40 countries dedicated to protecting the human rights of scholars around the world, and to raising awareness, understanding of, and respect for the principles of academic freedom and its constituent freedoms of expression, opinion, thought, association, and travel.
Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace is a Bahraini scholar and a retired professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Bahrain. After he participated in a pro-democracy protest in March 2011, authorities arrested Dr. Al-Singace. Three months later, a military court sentenced Dr. Al-Singace to life in prison on allegations stemming from his exercise of freedom of expression and freedom of association, rights protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Dr. Al-Singace’s detention was declared arbitrary in an opinion published by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) in May 2023.
Following 10 years in prison, Dr. Al-Singace began his hunger strike on July 8, 2021, in response to prison authorities’ confiscation of his manuscript on Bahraini dialects of Arabic that he spent four years researching and writing. For the past five years, he has been sustaining himself only on multivitamin liquid supplements, tea with milk and sugar, water, and salts. Dr. Al-Singace remains detained at Muharraq Special Healthcare Centre. In July 2026, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) learned of several persistent health issues, including: chronic inflammation in his shoulders requiring surgical intervention; prostate issues which may also require surgical intervention; fainting episodes and bouts of dizziness; turbinate hypertrophy; and muscle tremors. In addition, he reported inadequate safety measures to prevent falls caused by his post-polio syndrome; limited access to medication; and denial of access to newspapers, religious television channels, and video calls with his family members who can’t visit him in person.
Following representations made by BIRD to Dr. Al-Singace’s lead physician, clarification was provided on his medical condition and treatment, and steps have been taken to address some of the concerns raised. Despite this, several issues remain outstanding and require your immediate intervention, including: reassessment of the prostate treatment plan to consider surgical intervention; coordination of the replacement of his crutches to ensure both that they are the correct, satisfactory model, and that the logistics behind replacement do not leave him temporarily without his sole means of mobility; and the installation of anti-slip mats to further mitigate falls.
Other issues fall outside the direct responsibility of his medical team and require action by the Ministry of Interior, including medication requests submitted by his doctor to treat tooth sensitivity, gum pain, and joint pain that have not been approved, leaving him without treatment. Despite sustained communication with his team, these outstanding medical issues and concerns about his basic quality of life remain unresolved.
We welcome any additional information which may explain these events or clarify our understanding. Absent these, the reports of his deteriorating health and pressing medical needs–together with his arrest, prolonged detention, and conviction without substantial evidence–suggest a troubling disregard for international standards of due process, fair trial, and detention, as guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bahrain has acceded.
We therefore respectfully urge you to intervene to ensure Dr. Al-Singace’s well-being while in custody, including ensuring regular visits with his family, access to the outdoors, and ongoing medical attention pending his release following the government’s lifting of any charges or convictions related to his peaceful exercise of protected human rights.
We appreciate your attention to this important matter and look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Robert Quinn
Executive Director
CC:
His Majesty Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa
King, Kingdom of Bahrain
His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Prime Minister, Kingdom of Bahrain
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Honorable Nawaf bin Mohammed Al Maawda
Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Kingdom of Bahrain
The Honorable Shaikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa
Kingdom of Bahrain Ambassador to the United States
The Honorable Ali Ahmed Alderazi
National Institute for Human Rights, Kingdom of Bahrain
The Honorable Stephanie Hallett
United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain
The Honorable Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalif
Kingdom of Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The Honorable Volker Türk
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Honorable António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
The Honorable Michael O’Flaherty
Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe
The Honorable Marco Rubio
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State