Bahrain Mirror: The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) demanded that detainee Elias Al-Mullah (25 years old), who suffers from stage 3 cancer, receives proper medical treatment, and that his family is given his recent up-to-date medical reports on his condition.

In a statement (January 8, 2017), the BCHR said it "expresses great concern over the wellbeing and access to medical care of the detainee Elias Faisal Al-Mulla, who is suffering from stage 3 colon cancer, and whose family is unable to get consistent up to date reports of his medical status." 

The Center clarified that the detainee, who is held on charges of rioting and assembly, suffered from severe stomach aches after inhaling huge amounts of tear gas after the Jaw Central Prison events in March 2015. This then led to him vomiting blood, before diagnosing his condition in the military hospital on August 13, 2015.

Al-Mulla started chemotherapy at Salmaniya on 8 October 2015, and took 7 doses in total up until 13 March 2016, some of which were delayed after he suffered strong side effects. His 8th dose, which was scheduled in April 2016, was canceled as his doctor felt there was a risk to Al-Mulla if he continued, due to his weak immunity.

The BCHR added, "The doctor at Salmaniya hospital has asked the prison guard to make an appointment for Al-Mulla to do examinations to find out the reasons of his weak immunity, broken teeth and vision loss. However those appointments and examinations were never made."

Moreover, the center said that on 1 December 2016, he had an appointment to conduct an endoscopy procedure at the military hospital, as requested by his doctor to confirm the cancer status. It was postponed as the prison security guard didn't provide Al-Mulla with the required solution to take before the procedure. The scan was then conducted on 8 December 2016. When Al-Mulla's mother went to the hospital on that day to talk to the doctor she says that she was refused access to the doctor, and she was threatened by security men and forced to leave the hospital. Since then, she has faced repeated refusals to provide her with the report of her son's medical results or to have a discussion of her son's condition with his doctor.

The center reiterated in its statement that Al-Mulla's health is deteriorating, and his family is afraid that if his cancer reaches stage 4 that he may be at risk of losing his life due to inadequate medical care.

Arabic Version