Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Annex B — Summary of Torture Allegations
After two months in prison, he was taken to court on three occasions and
beaten. He was also beaten at the medical clinic.
The detainee was not allowed family visits during the first three months of
his detention. He was not allowed to speak to them on the telephone for
much of this time, and when he was finally allow to speak to them it was
only for two minutes every two weeks. After a few months this was
increased to five minutes per day. The presence of the witness’s mother
during his arrest and his subsequent separation from his family were
particularly upsetting to him.
CASE NO. 37
(Examined by the forensic team)
Date of statement: 26 August 2011
Statement: On 29 April 2011, the detainee was arrested at a friend’s home
along with two other persons. The police handcuffed him behind his back,
pushed him to the ground and kicked him in his back and face. They beat
him and stepped on his head. They also stole his property. They put him in
a car and continued to beat him. He was taken to the MoI and later to Dry
Dock Detention Centre.
During the first month of his detention, he was subjected to mistreatment
including beatings, sleep deprivation and exposure to extremes of heat and
cold. He was not given access to a toilet, resulting in him defecating on
himself. He was treated particularly harshly when he was at the MoI. They
threatened to rape his female family members and told him that his brother
would be dismissed from his job because of him. He was also forced to
insult his own religion. He was inappropriately touched while being
searched after returning from court or the medical clinic. He was
interrogated two or three times per day. His first interrogation lasted
approximately 12 hours, during which time they asked about his religion,
Iran and Mushaima (an opposition leader in Bahrain). He was often severely
beaten during interrogations and burned with cigarettes. Authorities also
choked him while telling him to confess. He signed false confessions as a
result of threats, particularly against his family. One confession stated that
he had carried out operations for Hezbollah as well as kidnappings; both
statements were false. For three weeks he was not allowed to see a doctor
regarding his injuries from beatings and burns. When he was finally allowed
to have a medical examination, the doctor refused to report his injuries.
The detainee was interrogated twice during the month of June but he was not
beaten during those interrogations. The last time he was physically
mistreated was in May 2011, while the last time he was “psychologically
mistreated” was just before the Commission commenced its inquiry. Before
the Commission’s arrival, he started a hunger strike which lasted five days.
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