Torture during the Bahraini uprising (2011–present)
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Torture during the
Bahraini uprising (2011–present) The 2011 Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and prote ...
has been described in many human rights reports as being widespread and systematic; 64% of detainees (1866 individuals) reported being tortured. At least five individuals died as a result. During the uprising detainees were interrogated by three government agencies, the
Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
(MoI), the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...
(NSA) and the
Bahrain Defence Force The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) is the military force of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Bahrain Defence Force is under direct command and leadership of a commander-in-chief who holds the rank of field marshal. The Government has a Minister of De ...
. According to the
Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), also known locally in Bahrain as the Bassiouni Commission, was established by the King of Bahrain on 29 June 2011''Bahrain News Agency''" HM King Hamad Sets up Royal Independent Investigation co ...
(BICI) report, physical and psychological abuses were inflicted by the NSA and the MoI systematically and in many cases amounted to torture. The BICI report found that the techniques used were similar to those used during the suppression of the 1990s uprising and indicative of "a systemic problem, which can only be addressed on a systemic level".


Background

Government sanctioned torture was frequently used during the " State Security Law Era" between 1975 and 1999; 17 deaths was the result. After the Emir
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salm ...
succeeded his father
Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (; 3 June 1931 – 6 March 1999) was the first emir of Bahrain from 1961 until his death in 1999. Born in Jasra, Bahrain, he became emir upon the death of his father, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Early life and reign ...
in 1999, reports of torture declined dramatically and conditions of detention improved.US Department of State
Bahrain Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2001
an
Working group on arbitrary detention
para 90.
However
Royal Decree 56 of 2002 Royal Decree 56 of 2002 is a law issued in Bahrain by King Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah that grants impunity to security officers and state officials from being prosecuted for human rights abuses prior to 2001. See also * Torture in Bahrain * State Se ...
gave effective immunity to all those accused of torture during 1990s uprising and before (including notorious figures such as Ian Henderson and
Adel Flaifel Colonel Adel Jassim Flaifel (or Felaifel, or Flaifil) ( ar, عادل فليفل) is a former colonel in the State Security and Intelligence Service of Bahrain. He is accused of committing, or overseeing, acts of physical and psychological torture ...
.). Towards the end of 2007 torture began to be employed again and by 2010 had become common again.Summary, "Torture Redux: The Revival of Physical Coercion during Interrogations in Bahrain"
published by
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
8 February 2010, , accessed 19 June 2011


Techniques of abuse

Detainees have described a number of specific techniques used by the Bahraini authorities to obtain information, induce confessions, inflict punishment or simply for revenge. These techniques involved both psychological and physical abuse.


Physical abuse

Physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or wo ...
was reported as starting from the time of arrest and continuing during transport and throughout the period of detention, including in hospital, where some detainees reported recent wounds being hit. Regular beatings were inflicted, sometimes over a period of months, on the back, the head and the soles of feet in particular. Detainees were blindfolded to prevent them identifying their assailants. Almost all detainees had marks on their noses and wrists caused by tight blindfolding and handcuffing. Sometimes handcuffs were applied so tightly as to cause a loss of sensation in the hands. Sleep deprivation techniques included the use of cold water, physical beatings and loud noises. Most detainees reported being forced to remain standing for long periods, often on one leg, and sometimes being suspended by ropes in painful positions. The effect of extremely cold temperatures was enhanced by wetting clothes and bedding. Cigarette burns and electric shocks were inflicted on at least 100 detainees. A number of detainees were sexually assaulted by touching and violent handling of their genitals or finger thrusts and the insertion of objects including hosepipes and ends of rifle barrels into the anus. During a brutal crackdown against the protesting prisoners in Jau prison in April 2021, detainees were brutally dragged out of their cells and severely beaten. Prison authorities competed with each other as to see who could beat the prisoners more brutally. The authorities used metal rods to beat the detainees on their legs, knees, chest and private parts. Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy reported that 64 prisoners were forcibly disappeared for 19 days following this incident and were held incommunicado for over a month.


Psychological abuse

Almost all detainees underwent
psychological torture Psychological torture or mental torture is a type of torture that relies primarily on psychological effects, and only secondarily on any physical harm inflicted. Although not all psychological torture involves the use of physical violence, there ...
of various forms. According to the BICI report a "climate of fear" was created in detainees who heard fellow-detainees being tortured. All detainees were subjected to
verbal abuse Verbal abuse (also known as verbal aggression, verbal attack, verbal violence, verbal assault, psychic aggression, or psychic violence) is a type of psychological/mental abuse that involves the use of oral, gestured, and written language direct ...
, particularly involving derogatory remarks about the detainees' religion or relatives. A number of detainees were threatened with rape, either personally or involving family members. Some were held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods. Forms of intimidating and degrading treatment used included mock executions, detainees being stripped before beatings and detainees being forced to clean lavatories with their bare hands or, in one reported case, being forced to eat their own feces.


Deaths

The BICI report attributed five deaths of detainees to torture. Bahrain Centre for Human Rights have blamed the death of another 12 individuals on "torture and beating".List of people killed in Bahrain since 14 February 2011 – Extrajudicial Killing
-''Bahrain Centre for Human Rights''.
One of the five deaths documented by BICI occurred in the course of torture by the NSA, the other four took place at the MoI's Dry Dock detention center.


Hasan Jassim Mohamed Maki

Hasan Jassim Mohamed Maki, a 39-year-old Bahraini from the village of
Karzakan Karzakan ( ar, كرزكان) is a village in Bahrain. It lies along the western coast of Bahrain Island. The seventeenth-century theologian Salih Al-Karzakani Sheikh Salih Al-Karzakani ( ar, صالح الكرزكاني) was a seventeenth-century ...
, died on 3 April 2011. The cause of death was attributed to cardiac arrest induced by
sickle-cell disease Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blo ...
. Amnesty International and
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. ...
examined the body, and reported the presence of wounds inflicted by sharp objects, suggesting that he had been tortured while detained. His medical condition may have been neglected while he was in government custody; the commission attributed his death to torture.


Zakariya Rashid Hassan Al Asheri

Zakariya Al Asheri was a forty-year-old Bahraini blogger and journalist who worked as an editor and writer for a local blog news website in Al Dair. He died on 9 April 2011, officially as a result of massive heart failure and cardiac arrest following complications of sickle-cell disease while in Ministry of the Interior custody. His family reported that he had never previously experienced harmful effects of sickle-cell disease despite being a carrier. Although the Ministry of Interior informed the family that he had died from sickle-cell disease while asleep, a blindfolded cellmate described hearing prison guards enter their cell and beat Zakariya to death when he refused to be quiet. The commission attributed his death to torture.


Ali Isa Ibrahim Saqer

Ali Saqer was a 31-year-old Bahraini from Sehla who died on 9 April 2011 from hypovolemic shock due to multiple traumas sustained during torture in the custody of the Ministry of the Interior. His body was covered with red bruises, in particular on the back of the hands and around the right eye. The Ministry of the Interior claimed that he had died from injuries received while resisting security forces. Bahraini human rights activist
Nabeel Rajab Nabeel Ahmed Abdulrasool Rajab ( ar, نبيل أحمد عبدالرسول رجب, born on 1 September 1964) is a Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East ...
was reported to the Military Prosecutor by the Interior Ministry for posting allegedly doctored photos of Ali Saqer's corpse to his Twitter account. The photographs were confirmed as genuine by a
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
researcher who had seen the body prior to burial."Bahrain: Attack on Rights Defender’s Home", HRW website, 18 April 2011
accessed 18 May 2011
"Bahrain accuses human rights leader of faking pictures of beating", Guardian website, 11 April 2011
Accessed 18 May 2011


Abdulkarim Ali Ahmed Fakhrawi

Abdulkarim "Karim" Fakhrawi, was a 49-year-old Bahraini journalist, businessman, co-founder of the newspaper '' Alwasat'', and owner of the largest group of bookstores in Bahrain. He was also a member of Al-Wefaq, Bahrain's principal opposition party.Committee to Protect Journalists. "Al-Wasat founder dies in custody in Bahrain." April 15, 2011. Retrieved 19 November 201
CPJ
/ref> He died on 11 April 2011 from injuries sustained during torture while in NSA custody. Despite government claims that Fakhrawi's death had occurred during a brawl with two
NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
officers and was due to kidney failure, witnesses reported having heard him screaming while receiving beatings and then suddenly the screaming stopped, after which one individual said to another, "you killed him".


Jaber Ebrahim Yousif Mohamed Alawiyat

Jaber Ebrahim Yousif Mohamed Alawiyat was a 41-year-old Bahraini from the village of Khamis who died on 12 June 2011 from injuries sustained while in Ministry of the Interior custody. 20 days after his detention Alawiyat's family was allowed to visit him and reported seeing bruises on his face, head and the left hand, which he was unable to move. He was released from custody on 9 June and left outside the entrance to a hospital. He died three days later, complaining of stomach pains.


Yousif Ahmed Muwali

Yousif Ahmed Muwali went missing on 9 January 2012. When his family filed a missing persons report on 11 January 2012, they were told by a police officer that Yousif was at the General Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Forensic Evidence (CID) in
Adliya Adliya (Arabic: العدلية) is the bohemian neighborhood in Manama, Bahrain. Overview The district is a multicultural, busy area, a home to commerce, culture and entertainment, and it is considered one of the four centres of Manama's nightlife ...
. The Ministry of the Interior denied having Mulawi in their custody. They claimed that he had drowned and his body had been found after being washed ashore on the
Amwaj Islands Amwaj Islands ( ar, جزر أمواج; transliterated: Juzur Amwaj) are a group of man-made islands, located in the Persian Gulf to the northeast of Bahrain, near the coast of Muharraq island. They lie northeast of the capital, Manama, on Bahrai ...
on 13 January 2012. The death certificate indicated that death had occurred approximately 2 days previously.Image for Yousif Ahmed Muwali Death certificate
MOI proceeded to carry out an autopsy without obtaining the consent of the family, who were not allowed to see the body until the following morning. Mulawi's uncle told the family's lawyer Hanan AlAradi that there were obvious signs of torture on his nephew's head and neck, cigarette burns on his arms and bruises on various parts of the body. Despite the family's claim that Mulawi had been tortured to death the Ministry of the Interior insisted that the cause of death had been drowning.
Al Wefaq Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest co ...
called for an international independent investigation in the case, alleging a loss of all confidence in the integrity of the Bahraini judiciary and security forces. The body was only handed back to the family on 21 January 2012 – 10 days after Mulawi's death. The funeral took place in
Muharraq Muharraq ( ar, المحرق, al-Muḥarraq) is Bahrain's third largest city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2012 was 176,583. The city is located on Muharraq Island. Bahrain Int ...
the same day. In May, the Bahraini government was forced to deny independent autopsy evidence that Mowali had been electrocuted and otherwise tortured by the police until he lost consciousness; Mowali was then dumped in water while still unconscious, and he drowned.


Government denials

The Ministry for Social Development denied to
Human Rights First Human Rights First (formerly known as the Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights) is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3), international human rights organization based in New York City and Washington, D.C. In 2004, Human Rights First started its " ...
that tortured was used in Bahrain, that "Everyone who’s been arrested has been shown an arrest warrant and proper documentation", that masked men never removed detainees from their homes, and that the government investigation of the alleged incidents found they were only "isolated cases". Abdulaziz bin Mubarak, the Bahrain Information Authority's Director of Media Relations, told ''
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
'' that reported incidents were taken very seriously and investigated, and that torture was not sanctioned by the government and that the five prison guards involved in one death had been arrested; the guards were eventually released without further action.


Lack of accountability

The BICI report described a "culture of complete impunity" by the lack of accountability within the security forces that was supported by judges and public officials of "implicitly condoning" misbehavior. One judge had accepted confessions allegedly obtained under torture as evidence against the detainees. Also, a detainee reported beatings and threats of greater severity after testifying in court about his mistreatment.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torture during the Bahraini uprising (2011-present) Bahraini uprising of 2011 Torture in Bahrain