Bahrain: More arrests and torture by Al Khalifa to celebrate the New Year
The execution of Saddam Hussain has been welcomed by the people of Bahrain who had lost several of their sons at the hands of his regime.
Eight young students in Najaf were executed by Saddam’s agents in 1991, and five others had earlier been killed at the war front with Iran. People’s spirits have been uplifted by the news that one of the most vicious tyrants had been punished by his own people. It is a positive development that has awakened the feelings that the Al Khalifa murderers may one day be brought to justice. It is a divine law that no dictator may escape justice no matter how he/she tries to escape. The arrest three years ago of Saddam Hussain had sealed his fate, while the prayers of his victims have been answered by the Almighty God. Bahraini fathers and mothers have prayed for justice to be meted out against those who had killed their sons and shown no remorse for their evil deeds. The prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has a lot of blood on his hands, and will be pursued by the souls of his victims, while the present ruler will not escape justice for killing Nooh Khalil Al Nooh, Mohammad Jum’a Al Shakhouri and Mahdi Abdul Rahman, and the torture and imprisonment of many others over the past few years.
Meanwhile the Al Khalifa regime has started the new year with more repression. Today, a young man, Hassan Abdul Nabi, a member of the Committee of the Unemployed was being tortured at Budaya’ detention centre, while six others have been detained over the past 24 hours for their opposition to the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship. Some of them had been involved in demonstrations in the past few days calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to absolute dictatorship.
In the early hours of this morning, the house of Hassan Ali Muhsin, 17, in Duraz was surrounded by members of the Al Khalifa death squads and he was arrested and taken to the torture chambers. He was severely tortured at the scene, even before being arrested and transferred to the torture headquarters of the Northern Province near Budaya. Later, the torturers realised that the young man was mentally unstable, so they decided to replace him with his older brother, Hussain, 18 who was snatched from his house. Eyewitnesses confirmed that he was subjected to horrific treatment as he was being arrested. His clothes were removed and he was kept undressed in the cold weather.
At the same time, Hussain Yousef Zayed, 18 and Hussain Zayer Ali, 19, both from Duraz have also been arrested. A younger citizen, Ahmad Al Mutaghawwi, 17, has been kidnapped by the death squads after a merciless attack on his house. He was only released from the torture chambers last September after a detention that had lasted several months without charge or trial.
Two other citizens have also been arrested. Khalil Ibrahim, from Salmabad and Jaffar Abdul Aziz from Duraz. Last night, the Al Khalifa death squads arrested a young citizen, Kumail Hussain Abdul Hassan, from Al Ma’amir village, following a peaceful demonstration against the continued detention of political prisoners and the absolute dictatorship of the present ruler.
Meanwhile, the ruling family has intervened to stop a peaceful demonstration scheduled for today, in protest against the detention of two young Bahrainis; Dr Mohammad Saeed Al Sahlawi and Hussain Abdul Aziz Al Habshi. The protest had been called for by the families of the two hostages whose patience is running out as the Al Khalifa continue their torture and maltreatment. They have now re-scheduled the demonstration for Wednesday. Earlier demonstrations had been mercilessly attacked by riot police on the orders of the royal court.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
1st January 2007