Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
the individuals or their affiliation. He was taken to an unknown location
where he was interrogated and asked questions about the political situation
in Bahrain. He heard the voices of other people who were being
interrogated and he believed that those people were being tortured. He was
asked to give his interrogators the password to an email account. He was not
able to sleep the whole night. The guards asked him a few questions in the
morning and then in the evening he was called before an official
investigation. There were two interrogators; one spoke with a Jordanian
accent and the other was a Bahraini. They informed him that his level of
cooperation with the investigation would determine how they would treat
him thereafter. He denied all the accusations and said that the security
forces had made a mistake. The interrogators asked the guards to take him
away because he was not cooperating sufficiently. He was blindfolded and
taken to his cell. He was slapped as he walked along the corridor and he was
terrified. During his detention the guards deprived him of sleep by hitting
hoses against steel.
The detainee was subsequently transferred to the NSA and was beaten and
subjected to sectarian insults on the way. When he arrived at the NSA, a
man wearing traditional Gulf dress approached him and gave him paper and
a pen. The man told him that there were two kinds of treatment, one for
humans and the other for animals, and that he had to choose between them.
The interrogators used terrifying techniques and said that they would do
things to him if he did not cooperate. He was told that he had two choices:
the first was to say things that would implicate him, and the other was to tell
the truth, which would lead to cruel treatment. They did not tell him what to
write in his statement. However, he was asked to sign his statement without
being able to read it. He was only permitted to skim read his statement and
found that additions had been made.
He remained in detention at the NSA for 45 days in solitary confinement.
He did not see the sun except for short periods while he was being
transported to the Military Prosecution or to the court. He was denied
regular use of the toilet. He was insulted by Pakistani and Bahraini guards.
He heard the voices of people being tortured. Except at meal and prayer
times, the detainees were blindfolded and tied up in the corridor. Whenever
he was transferred between locations by car, the guards beat him and
insulted his sect, religion and beliefs.
The detainee was taken to appear before the Military Prosecution without
legal representation and he was not permitted to postpone the investigation
until he had a lawyer. He did not see any official documents confirming his
transfer to a military court. He was mistreated, insulted and described as a
traitor to the country.
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