(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Following the worsening of the physical condition of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, member of the Supreme Council of the Ahlul Bayt World Assembly, the Secretary-General wrote to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and seven other important international officials.
The full text of the letter to Antonio Guterres is as follows:
In the Name of God
Hon. Mr. Antonio Guterres,
Distinguished Secretary-General of the United Nations
With Best Compliments;
While respecting the humanitarian efforts of Your Excellency in defense of people’s rights worldwide, especially in Bahrain, I avail myself of this opportunity to draw your kind attention to the unfortunate and much critical physical condition of Bahrain's prominent cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Ahmad Qassim, who isa member of the Supreme Council of our organization, the Ahlul-Bayt World Assembly.
This important person, who has been cruelly imprisoned in his house for months, is not physically fit and needs a well-equipped medical group to save his life.
According to the close relatives of this religious leader, SheikhIssaQassim has lost half of his weight and suffered a stomach bleeding. These new complications have been added to his former diseases such as blood pressure, diabetes and senile weakness.
Sheikh IssaQassim’s doctor has stated that he needs some surgical procedures by expert teams; however, due to ‘house arrest’ and lack of medical facilities at home, his physician does not have the ability to make effective treatments.
On the other hand, the family members of Ayatollah IssaQassim do not trust the doctors deployed by the ruling regime in Bahrain.
With regard to all that has happened, the Ahlul-Bayt World Assembly, as an international body whose members are comprised of intellectuals and elitesfrom more than 120 countries, would like to call the kind attention of the United Nations, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, the European Union, and international organization of Doctors Without Borders as well as the heads of governments and parliaments of free countries throughout the globe to the following points:
1. Due to the senility and feeble body of Ayatollah Sheikh IssaQassim, he cannot tolerate any further illnesses and sufferings, and we are afraid that with the end of the little power left, the life of this great religious and intellectual person will be put in danger.
2. Depriving human beings of drugs and appropriate treatments is one of the greatest examples of human rights violation.
3. For near seven years, the AlKhalifaregime has been trampling the civil and human rights of his people in different unjust ways. Failure to allow patients to be treated is another shameful log of this regime in terms of human rights violation.
4. As a global organization, we call for the presence of a skilled and trusted medical staff to be dispatched by international organizations to treat Ayatollah IssaQassim.
5. We also call on legal practitioners and related organizations to put pressure on the Bahraini lawbreaker regime to cancel the stripping of Sheikh IssaQassim'scitizenship and put an end to his house arrest.
6. Undoubtedly, the responsibility for any unfortunate event that occurs because of the negligence on this matter is primarily on the shoulders of the Bahraini government and then on the people and organizations who have remained silent in this regard.
Sincerely yours,
Mohammad Hasan Aktari
Secretary General of the Ahlulbayt World Assembly
30 November 2017
The same letter was sent to the following six official:
- Mr. "Jean-Claude Juncker", Distinguished President of the European Commission
- Mr. "Antonio Tajani", Distinguished President of the European Parliament
- Ms. "Federica Mogherini", High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission
- Prince "Zeid bin Ra’adZeid al-Hussein", Distinguished U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Ms. "Asma Jahangir", Distinguished U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
- Ms. "Dr. Joanne Liu", International President of Doctors Without Borders
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