Bahrain: Administering Torture in its cruelest forms
What happened in the past few weeks inside the torture cells of Bahrain is beyond description. It is pure evil. For the detainees to be forced to take off their clothes and stay together naked has reminded us of the images at Abu Ghraib. What makes these terrible crimes even worse is that, unlike Abu Ghraib, no one will produce photographs to show the naked bodies of detainees with the marks of electric torture and psychological trauma.
The story began shortly after the events of 17th December 2007 when a young Bahraini man was brutally murdered by the death squads which are run by the royal court. On the third day of the commemoration sessions of the martyr, people marched in protest against the brutal murder. Scores were arrested. Over the following few days, more people were rounded up in raids on their homes, often at the early hours of the morning. It was clear from the beginning that the ruling family was becoming more frustrated as their evil image is exposed to the outside world. They had spent millions of dollars buying off mercenaries within international bodies, especially in the media and human rights organizations. Now the truth could not be concealed.
The latest episodes have come to light following court appearances and family visits. In the last court session, at least three out of the 17 prisoners of conscience openly complained of extensive torture to the presiding judge. Those claims immediately landed them in more torture, this time more than what the Bahrainis had ever seen before. Instead of ordering an investigation into these allegations of torture, the judge dismissed them and returned the victims to the torture cells for more punishment.
More details have now emerged. Hassan Abdul Nabi was arrested on 27th December after attending an open session at Wa’ad Society in which families of earlier detainees had given their first hand experiences with the death squads. He was subjected to most horrific forms of torture. His clothes were forcibly removed for days. He was hung from a pole between his tied wrists and knees, then upside down like a scorpion and then like a butterfly.
They wanted “confessions” that he had obtained guns from a burnt out police vehicle; a crime that simply did not exist. His family have confirmed that they had seen clear marks of physical torture including pulling the nails from his foot and deep wounds to his legs resulting from severe electric shocks.
What Hassan Abdul Nabi’s wife has just revealed is really shocking. First she has been repeatedly threatened with rape if she did not keep quiet.
Secondly, her husband had recently been forced to call her by a mobile phone, to “admit” to her what they wanted. When they met on 27th February in jail, he made shocking revelations to her. Unless he “confessed” to what the torturers wanted, she would be brought to him naked, forced to indulge in sex acts which would be recorded. Prostitutes would also be involved. They had shown him a film of another inmate who was forced to indulge in sex acts with his wife inside the torture chambers. Death squads of the Al Khalifa have now gone beyond what had ever happened in the past. Under Sheikh Hamad and his son, Salman “the reformists” it seems there are no limits to the torture methods under their disposal. It is a shame that would not be wiped out without bringing these criminals to justice in an international war crimes tribunal.
The wife added that she is being harassed continuously by the death squads, which are managed by the minister of the royal court, Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa. She is followed wherever she goes and big men would surround her car without talking to her, write her number plates, talk on mobiles to their superiors and take deliberate steps to make her aware of their presence. They would phone her, use bad language against her and threaten her with immoral acts. The wife of another inmate said that her husband had told her that the political detainees were forced to take off their clothes and stay naked in a large room. This is alien to the culture of Bahrainis and is an indication to the extent of moral degeneration of the regime of Sheikh Hamad, his son and his uncle.
Further revelations have also spoken of taking blood from the political detainees who are mixed with other prisoners (mostly drug addicts), for no obvious reasons. The blood is taken with one syringe which is used for them all. Is it a way of spreading diseases among them?
Bahrain Freedom Movement
4 Th March 2008