Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
Conditions improved after the Commission arrived. The treatment by the
guards improved and there was little or no further verbal abuse.
CASE NO. 38
(Examined by the forensic team)
Date of statement: 25 August 2011
Statement: The detainee was apprehended at a banned religious ceremony
on 16 April 2011. The police raided the site and the detainee ran away. He
was shot in the lower left leg but could not confirm the type of weapon or
round that wounded him. He has been told that he was wounded with
birdshot, but the wound is more consistent with a small calibre gunshot
round. The police surrounded him, kicked him and carried him 90 metres to
an ambulance to transport him to the BDF Hospital.
The detainee had surgery on his left leg and remained in hospital for four
days, during which time he was blindfolded and handcuffed to the bed. The
military guards slapped him but the medical staff did not mistreat him. He
was transferred to a police station after four days and stayed there for an
unknown time. Medical treatment was good and there was no mistreatment
from the medical staff. The guards abused him, slapping and beating him,
but they never hit him on his wound. The guards disrupted his sleep and
threatened to amputate his wounded leg and send him to Saudi Arabia to
have his throat slit. These threats did not occur in the presence of medical
staff. The detainee recognised improvements in the attitudes and actions of
the detaining authorities after two weeks, and he attributes those changes to
the influence of human rights organisations. There were no significant
incidents of mistreatment after the first two weeks.
In total, his detention extended from 20 April to 7 July. He was released
from prison when the HM King Hamad issued pardons, and his case was
transferred from the military to civilian courts. He admitted to participating
in a religious ceremony but denied other charges of participating in an illegal
gathering and participating in activity against the GoB.
CASE NO. 39
(Examined by the forensic team)
Date of statement: 25 August 2011
Statement: The detainee was arrested on 5 May 2011 in front of his home.
He had been chanting prayers at night and this had provoked the police. He
heard gunshots and then two armed men in civilian clothing emerged from a
car and arrested him. The men took him to a room in his home where they
beat and insulted him while repeatedly asking about his chanting and
congregations outside his home. The police also asked about his reasons for
opposing the regime given that he received a good salary for his work.
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