Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
doors and furniture, stolen valuables and stolen his land ownership
certificates.
He was taken to an office where he was beaten and questioned about his
family, his actions at SMC and his involvement in the 14 February events.
He was forced to sign a confession stating that he was the leader of a group
that had tried to kill injured people at the hospital, obtain medicines illegally,
overthrow the constitution and disseminate false information about the
number of causalities. He was then forced to stand barefoot for a 24-hour
period and was denied a lawyer when he requested one. He was only
allowed to sit down for around five minutes during the three meals he was
given. He heard his brother being brought into the same room and heard
him shouting and crying as he was beaten. The detainee was then placed in
solitary confinement for a period of seven days during which he was
deprived of sleep and forced to stand blindfolded and handcuffed for
extended periods. He was deprived of access to a toilet and therefore
urinated on himself. He was severely beaten on all parts of his body,
causing him to bleed from his mouth. He was also verbally insulted, with
insults directed at his family and his religious beliefs. He was then taken for
photographs and fingerprinting.
On the fourth day of his detention, he was taken for interrogation. He was
not given a chance to respond to the allegations against him. His
interrogators beat him with planks and a hose and threw shoes on his body.
The beatings were concentrated on the left side of his head, which resulted
in vertigo and tinnitus (for which he was later treated at the BDF Hospital).
His interrogators insulted him and defamed his religion. They threatened to
sexually abuse his wife and daughter if he did not respond positively to their
questions. This lasted between six and eight hours, and finally the detainee
was forced to sign a confession that he did not read. He was shown keys to
the five cars that his family owned and was told that they had been taken
away.
On the eighth day of his detention, he was taken with his brother to an
unknown location where he was forced to stand for 24 hours blindfolded and
handcuffed while he was continually beaten and insulted. At one point he
fainted due to the pain of his beatings, and he was kicked again until he
awoke and was then forced to continue standing. Although the detainee
asked to speak to a lawyer and to telephone his family, he was denied those
rights.
On his 20 th day of detention, an NSA officer interrogated the detainee and
promised that he would be released as long as he cooperated. He was told to
sing the national anthem. After more than eight hours of standing, he was
forced to sign confession papers and was beaten in the face after each
signature. That night, he was kicked violently causing him to lose sensation
on the left side of his buttocks and left leg. He screamed out in pain but the
beatings continued nonetheless.
The detainee was then taken to the MoI Health Centre and beaten on the
way. Upon arrival, his face was fully bandaged leaving only a hole for his
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