Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the joint statement published on 8 October 2019 by Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, entitled Bahrain: Prisoners Denied Medical Care, what steps he has taken to help ensure that Hassan Mushaima and Dr Abdujalil al-Singace (a) have access to medical treatment in accordance with international human rights standards and (b) are released from prison.

We continue to monitor the cases of Hassan Mushaima and Abduljalil al-Singace. We have raised these cases at senior levels with the Bahraini Government. The Government of Bahrain has been clear in public statements that access to medical care, including dental, for those in detention is guaranteed by the Constitution of Bahrain.

We encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to raise them with the appropriate Bahraini human rights oversight body. We continue to encourage the oversight bodies in Bahrain to carry out thorough and swift investigations into any such claims.