Bahrain: More Bahrainis incarcerated on false charges or tortured
The use of the tailor-made laws to counter the rising popular rejection of the oppressive regime has intensified in recent months. On Sunday 7th November the Al Khalifa-controlled judiciary (court three) passed an eight years jail sentence against a young Bahraini.
Abdulla Abdul Mahdi Hassan Al Aradi was accused of taking part in anti-regime demonstration. The same court adjourned the case of the Sanabis group until 28th November after the Bahrainis shocked the court by revealing horrific wounds inflicted on them by torturers over the past two months.
They had been detained in early September after taking part in protests calling for a people’s constitution and an end to the emergency rules that have institutionalized torture and ill-treatment. The group is made of five Bahrainis, one of who is believed to be in hiding. Those who documented evidence of torture were: Sami Mirza Mushaime, Ahmad Abdulla Sha’ban, Ali Ahmad Al Ninoon and Hassan Yousuf Al Sami’. The Al Khalifa-appointed judge failed to form an independent inquiry into the torture allegations. In the past forty years the regime has never formed a single inquiry into torture claims despite irrefutable evidence that ill-treatment of detainees has been documented on large scales.
Among the most outrageous acts of revenge by the Al Khalifa in recent days is that of a 14 years old boy who was kidnapped by members of the Death Squads on Wednesday 3rd November, beaten, abused and threatened with more torture if he spoke of what had happened to him. The family of Ali Radhi (from the town of Daih) said that their son “suffered broken leg, deep wounds to his head and various wounds on his body.
He was transferred to the hospital after he was summarily subjected to most horrific torture. The father said: “I sent my son Ali to buy few things from the grocery shop after we had finished our dinner. There were no troubles at the time in the area. Few minutes later he returned in bad shape, his clothes blood-stained, with a deep wound in his head and several others in various parts of his body. He said that the security men had beaten him”. The boy said he was crossing the road when one of the members of the Death Squads placed his feet in his path causing him to fall. He was then set on by the others, kicking and beating him mercilessly. Bahrainis have been outraged by this crime which is a continuation of a long series of mafia-style kidnapping and cruel treatment.
On Sunday 7th November, several youth from the town of Sar were arrested in raids on their homes. Computers and other personal belongings were seized during the raids. The town has been under siege by the security forces for the past few days. Among those arrested are: Sayyed Ayman Makki Adnan, 20, Sayyed Sadeq Jaffar Hamid, 18, Sayyed Abbas Amin Ibrahim, 24. The families of these young Bahrainis who had been active during the election campaign by the Al Wefaq Society, and are not known for other anti-state activity. Members of Death Squads, operated jointly by the royal court and the National Security Agency, continued their attacks on Bahrainis in other parts of the country. Two days ago they raided the houses of Martyr Hassan Taher Al Sami’ in search for his brother and that of Abdul Karim Taher, to arrest his son. In Sanabis, these forces raided the house of Yousuf Al Sami’ looking for his son and his nephew.
Meanwhile fifty Arab NGOs signed a statement calling for the immediate release of the activists who were put on trial for opposing the dictatorship of the royal family. They condemned the extensive use of torture on detainees and the fabricated charges which were prepared by the security forces.
This statement has probably been signed by the largest number of NGOs in the Arab world. It reflects the extent of the popular and professional anger against the ongoing crackdown against the Shia activists and other opposition figures in Bahrain.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
9th November 2010