Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
The detainee was taken to SMC where he had surgery to amputate the fourth
and fifth toes of his left foot. Subsequently, police came to the hospital and
confiscated his mobile phone. He spent four days at SMC and was then
transferred to the military hospital where he stayed for one week. During his
time at SMC, he was not beaten but was subjected to repeated verbal insults.
For example, one policeman said to him, “Describe your sister and let me
have her.”
The detainee was blindfolded and transferred to the Isa police station. There
he was held for three months and one week in a large, crowded cell with
approximately 70 other detainees. He was given a bed (because of his
injury) but many other detainees were not. He was blindfolded for a
substantial portion of his time in detention but he was neither beaten nor did
he detainee others being beaten. He received adequate medical care while in
detention, including changes to his wound dressing every two or three days.
Approximately one month after his arrest, he was told that he was accused of
“assembly”. He never saw a lawyer nor was he taken before a judge. He
was released from prison on 7 July. Before being released, he had to sign
papers but he is not sure what those papers contained. The police told him
not to tell anyone about his injury or let them see it, and they threatened that
if he said anything they would send him back to prison.
CASE NO. 36
(Examined by the forensic team)
Date of statement: 26 August 2011
Statement: The detainee was arrested at his home at approximately 03:30
on 7 April 2011. A large group of armed, masked men broke down the door
to his house and “destroyed everything”. He was not told why he was being
arrested. He was taken to the CID for approximately two days and then
transferred to prison.
The detainee suffered mistreatment during the first two months of his
detention, in particular at the CID. While at the CID, his face was covered
and he was repeatedly beaten all over his body. The beatings often occurred
when he asked to pray. He was forced to stand for extended periods,
causing his legs to swell. On several occasions he was forced to stand in
front of an air conditioner, which was very cold. He and other detainees
were forced to take pills that made them hallucinate (he did not know what
they were). They received little food and were not permitted to use the
toilet. The detainee heard his brother screaming. The guards verbally
abused the detainees, calling them “sons of bitches”, saying that they were
illegitimate and insulting their religion. One of the guards told the detainee
that he would kill him and cut him into pieces and send them to Iran. The
detainee was threatened with rape but was never actually raped or sexually
assaulted. He was beaten while being interrogated about his knowledge of
other individuals’ involvement in political activities. He and other detainees
were repeatedly forced to confess to allegations and sign false confessions.
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