Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
the deceased collapsed, the witness heard the army issuing a warning to the
protesters not to approach. Later that day, a relative of the deceased received
a telephone call informing her that the deceased had been injured and had
been taken to SMC. The relative attended SMC and saw the deceased being
taken out of the ambulance. There was blood pouring from his head and he
was unconscious. On 21 February 2011, Mr Abdul R. Buhamaid died.
933. The Military Prosecution conducted an investigation into the case and
it was referred to the Public Prosecution office. The investigation concluded
that there were between 1,000 and 1,500 demonstrators who were approaching
a series of barricades manned by the MoI and BDF. It was alleged that behind
the demonstrators was a line of ambulances. The BDF was armed with a .50
Browning gun and was located behind an MoI formation. The demonstrators
and the barricades were separated by a 100 metre stretch of road. After a
period of confrontations between the MoI forces and the demonstrators, whose
number had fallen to a few hundred, the MoI forces retreated and left their
positions. The demonstrators then began provoking BDF personnel by
directing profanities at them. They also used blood bags from the ambulances
to feign that they had been injured. When the demonstrators started to move
beyond the MoI barricade and approach the BDF unit, the latter began to issue
verbal warnings using a megaphone. This behaviour was repeated a number
of times over a period of 15-20 minutes. When the demonstrators refused to
retreat, warning shots were fired into the air. At this point, most
demonstrators dispersed, but a number of them fell to the ground. Among
them was the deceased. The ordnance expert was unable to determine the type
or calibre of the weapon used, but insisted that the angle of the entry and exit
wounds showed that the weapon was fired from a high elevation. This,
according to the expert, excluded the possibility that the bullet could have
come from the BDF. The BDF investigation concluded that BDF personnel
had conducted themselves in accordance with the applicable laws and
regulations and that there were no grounds to press charges.
934. The death of Mr Abdulredha Buhamaid may be attributed to the BDF
and may have resulted from the use of excessive and unnecessary lethal force.
The Military AG purports to have conducted an effective investigation, which
found that the BDF did fire warning shots but that the calibre and trajectory of
the lethal bullet meant that it could not have been fired by the BDF. The
investigation concluded that the BDF personnel appeared to have acted in
accordance with the law.
Case No. 09 - Jaafar Mohamed Abdali Salman
935. At 08:30 on 16 March 2011, Mr Jaafar Mohamed Abdali Salman was
pronounced dead. The death certificate states that the cause of death was a
gunshot injury to the chest, which caused injuries internal organs and internal
bleeding.
936. A forensic report confirmed the cause of death and concluded that
there were also shotgun wounds to the front of the right arm and one to the
right side of the chest.
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