Bahrain: Torture, ethnic cleansing and strikes by migrant workers
The Washington-based Human Rights Watch has called on the ruling family of Bahrain to investigate claims of maltreatment of political detainees including torture and sexual assault.
The detained activists were among dozens arrested following clashes between protesters and security forces in and around the capital, Manama, in December. In one incident, protesters set fire to a police vehicle. Several detainees now face charges including possession of weapons allegedly stolen from the vehicle. In January, relatives of detainees – and also men who had been detained in connection with the clashes and then released – said that interrogators had tortured several detainees and sexually assaulted at least one. “The silence of Bahraini authorities in the face of multiple complaints of detainee abuse casts doubt on their commitment to the rule of law,” said Joe Stork, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Bahrain should immediately allow independent physicians to examine detainees who are alleging abuse.”
Relatives of Mohammad Singace and of two other detainees, Naji al-Fateel and Hasan Abdelnabi, told Human Rights Watch that these detainees had reported being placed in cells with prisoners suffering from contagious diseases. Relatives of Naji al-Fateel and Hasan Abdelnabi said that these two detainees had recounted, during a family visit on February 11, that guards had beaten them when they protested after hearing Singace scream from a nearby cell.
As the public anger at the widespread use of torture against political prisoners, demonstrations have continued in several villages over the past few weeks. A grouping of leading opposition figures has called for a demonstration on Friday to protest against the continued detention of the innocent Bahrainis and to demand an impartial investigations into reports of widespread torture. The demonstrators will also call for an independent inquiry into the killing of the latest martyr, Ali Jassim, who was brutally murdered on 17th December by the Al Khalifa’s death squads.
This public anger is compounded by the persistent news that more of Saddam’s henchmen have been granted Bahraini citizenship. According to these reports, more than 2000 former Ba’thists have been brought into the country, granted citizenship, assigned to jobs and given adequate accommodation. Most of them have been attached to security and military services, including the notorious Death Squads, which are run by Khalid ibn Ahmad Al Khalifa, the minister of the ruler’s office. This man is also in charge of the programme of the ethnic cleansing that is being implemented at a wide scale. Sheikh Hamad has hitherto refused to allow independent investigation into the role he has played in fomenting sectarian strife in the country.
In order to facilitate the ethnic cleansing programme, the Al Khalifa have adopted new policies denying the natives necessary accommodation. The ministry of housing has recently introduced new rules that virtually exclude the vast majority of Bahrainis. These rules have set standards of income to eliminate many Bahrainis from the right for proper housing. New conditions attached to the granting of governmental housing will make it almost impossible for those with genuine need to be eligible for housing.
Meanwhile, another serious development has shaken the public sector. Many foreign workers, mainly from the Indian Subcontinent, have begun a series of strikes against their degrading treatment that are contrary to the standards devised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Most of those migrant workers from South Asian countries, are forced to live in overcrowded lodgings with meagre washing facilities and with no permanent job contracts. They are forced to accept wages much lower than the standards set by ILO, and many of them work long hours. No medical facilities are provided to foreign workers except on minimum level. The strikes have taken place at several places, including Durrat Al Bahrain, a construction project owned by the Al Khalifa and paid for from the national budget. It is expected that more strikes will take place as the living conditions of these migrant workers continue to deteriorate. In certain cases, up to 14 people share one room, with salaries as low as 60 BD (160 US Dollar).
Bahrain Freedom Movement
20th February 2008