Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

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Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry him admit the commission of a crime or give statements or information in respect thereof. The punishment shall be imprisonment for at least six months if the torture or use of force results in harming the integrity of the body. 1229. In addition, Article 61 of the Bahrain Code of Criminal Procedure provides: No one shall be arrested nor imprisoned except by an order of the legally competent authority. He shall be treated in such a manner as to maintain his human dignity and shall not be subjected to any bodily or psychological harm. Every person who is arrested shall be informed of the reasons for his arrest. He shall have the right to contact any of his relatives to inform him of what has happened and to seek the aid of a lawyer. 3. Findings and Conclusions 1230. The information received from different sources, particularly from interviews with individuals claiming to have suffered mistreatment and other forms of physical and psychological abuse while in state custody, indicates clear patterns of behaviour by certain government agencies. Not all of the detainees were subjected to all of the techniques described above. There was a more discernible pattern of mistreatment with regard to certain categories of detainees, including some of the medical personnel arrested in connection with the events at SMC 603 and the 14 political leaders held at Al Qurain Prison. In many of these cases, the purpose of mistreatment was to obtain statements or confessions incriminating the detainee in question. In other cases, the purpose was to obtain statements from the detainee with a view to using the statements against other individuals. Mistreatment was also used for the purposes of retribution and punishment. 1231. Three government agencies, namely the MoI, the NSA and the BDF, were involved in interrogating detainees in relation to the events of February/March 2011. The facilities in which interrogations took place included, but were not limited to, Al Adliya (CID/MoI), Al-Qalaa (NSA) and the following police stations: Al Asri; Hamad Town (Roundabout 17); Al Wusta; Al Riffa; Al-Qudaibiya; Samaheej; Al Naim; Nabih Saleh; Al- Bodayia; and Sitra. As of November 2011, most detainees were held in either Al Qurain Prison (BDF), Dry Dock Detention Centre (MoI), Juw Prison (MoI) or Isa Town Detention Centre for women (MoI). 604 1232. Many detainees reported mistreatment at the hands of state agents at these facilities. Detainees at Al Qurain Prison (BDF) reported that their mistreatment ceased and conditions improved dramatically after 10 June 2011, 603 See Chapter V on Events at Salmaniya Medical Complex. 604 A detention centre for women at which there have been no allegations of torture. 296
Chapter VI — Allegations of Human Rights Violations Against the Person but detainees at other facilities continued to report incidents of mistreatment after that time. 1233. A large number of detainees among the 179 held by the NSA reported instances of mistreatment, including torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, at the hands of that agency. Among these complainants are the 14 political leaders who were subsequently transferred to the custody of the BDF (at Al Qurain Prison) between 20 March and 13 April 2011. The BDF reported that upon their arrival, these detainees were examined by a medical doctor who noted that some of them had marks of physical abuse. Some of these detainees, however, alleged that they continued to suffer mistreatment at Al Qurain Prison until 10 June. This mistreatment stopped after the Military Attorney General brought the matter to the attention of the BDF Commander-in-Chief who, according to the Military Attorney General, ordered the Military Attorney General to take control of the detention facility and ensure that no further mistreatment took place. He also instructed the Military Attorney General to investigate claims of torture. Accordingly, Al Qurain Prison came under the control of the Military Attorney General. The 14 high level political detainees stated to Commission investigators that they suffered no mistreatment from 10 June onwards. 1234. The most common techniques used on detainees included the following: blindfolding; handcuffing; enforced standing for prolonged periods; beating; punching; hitting the detainee with rubber hoses (including on the soles of the detainee’s feet), cables, whips, metal, wooden planks or other objects; electrocution; sleep-deprivation; exposure to extreme temperatures; verbal abuse; threats of rape to the detainee or family members; and insulting the detainee’s religious sect (Shia). 1235. As detailed in Chapter VI, Section C on Manner of Arrests, most detainees were arrested by security forces without presentation of an arrest warrant and without being promptly informed of the reasons for their arrest. The present Section shows that many detainees were then held for weeks or even months with limited, if any, access to the outside world. In particular, there was no access to the courts to challenge the lawfulness of detention. Detainees were denied access to lawyers, sometimes for long periods and sometimes even until the day of the trial. In addition, the GoB withheld from detainees and/or their families information about the detainee’s whereabouts for periods ranging from days to weeks. In a few cases, the GoB failed to acknowledge even the fact of detention for periods of up to two weeks. 1236. These practices represent multiple violations of the prohibition of arbitrary detention, as laid down in article 9 of the ICCPR and article 14 of the Arab Charter. The Commission notes that the GoB deposited a derogation from article 9 of the ICCPR with the UN Secretary-General on 28 April 2011, although the State of National Safety was declared on 15 March. 605 It is clear that measures involving denial of access to courts and lawyers for periods of 605 See http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/2011/CN.261.2011-Eng.pdf accessed 19 November 2011. 297
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d. Deaths of expatriate workers Rep
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Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

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