Professor McCormack rebuts misrepresentation & inaccuracies in official statements in the Bahrain media re Irish delegation.

Professor Damian McCormack, head of the recent Irish humanitarian delegation to Bahrain rebuts the misrepresentation and inaccuracies contained in recent official statements and commentary in the Bahrain media re the visit of the delegation. He also reiterates the delegation’s concern at ongoing risk of torture and ill treatment of medics in custody.

Full Text of Press Release
PRESS RELEASE

On 13 July 2011 an Irish humanitarian delegation travelled to Bahrain to offer solidarity to doctors, nurses and other health professionals currently held in prison or facing charges in Bahrain. The delegation consisted of myself Professor Damian Mc Cormack, Professor Eoin O’Brien, Ms Marion Hakin MEP, Ms Averil Power TD (member of the Irish Parliament) and Front Line representatives Deputy Director Andrew Anderson and Khalid Ibrahim.

In the course of the mission we heard repeated testimonies of torture and ill treatment, including the threat of sexual assault. One testimony stated:

“I was taken to a room blindfolded and handcuffed with my hands behind my back. After hours of standing against a wall I was verbally insulted and then placed in solitary confinement for 10 days in a small dirty cell, during which time I was tortured, sexually molested by both male and female interrogators and beaten with a hose on the back and neck. I was then moved to a gaol where I could hear other prisoners being tortured and I was interrogated repeatedly. I was filmed signing many papers the content of which no longer mattered to me, but among which was a confession that I had stolen drugs from the Hospital and that I had incited disturbance.”

This is typical of the experiences recounted to us and it should be added that all the statements given were clear, consistent and credible and on the basis of these interviews the delegation would like to reiterate our call for the release of the doctors nurses and other health professionals still in detention on humanitarian grounds pending the outcome of the Independent Commission of Inquiry and any resumption of cases in the civil courts. …more

Bahrain protests: ‘The repression is getting worse’
Ian Black Sitra – UK Guardian – August 8 2011

Months after its brief exposure to the Arab spring, Bahrain’s cat-and-mouse routine of protest and repression continues

Masked youths in the village of Daih, Bahrain, protest against the government from behind makeshift barriers. Photograph: Hasan Jamali/AP

Hassan Ali Salman is a stocky, fit-looking young man. But he flailed in vain as the police officers grabbed him, one forcing his T-shirt roughly up over his head as three or four others laid in with their wooden batons, dragging and pushing him to a line of waiting Land Cruisers and more helmeted cops.

Behind him, on a bare breezeblock wall, crudely drawn nooses encircle the names Hamad and Khalifa – in reference to the king of Bahrain and his uncle the prime minister – alongside graffiti demanding their execution and the overthrow of the regime.

The recent scene in Sitra, a short drive from central Manama, the capital, provided an ugly glimpse into the cat-and-mouse routine of protests and repression in this Gulf island state. Filmed secretly, posted on YouTube and distributed on Twitter, it exposes what Bahrain’s western-backed government prefers foreigners not to see.

In the nearby cemetery lies the grave of Zainab al-Juma, a disabled woman who died in July after inhaling tear gas from a police grenade. The black flag that marks her “martyrdom” hangs limp in the hot, still air. Another local victim was Ahmed Farhan, shot in March, his brains spilling out of his shattered head live on camera as horrified screams sounded all around.

Bahrain is far quieter now than during its brief exposure to the winds of the Arab spring in February and March, but unrest continues. Every night cries of “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) echo through the villages of a Shia underclass that has chafed under the Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty since the country’s independence from Britain in 1971.

“We go up on to the roofs and shout and then try to march to the entrance of our village,” said Abu Ali, a thirtysomething accountant and former prisoner from Karzakan who supports al-Wifaq, the Islamist movement demanding democracy and equal rights for all. “The repression is getting worse.”

Haydar, from nearby Diraz, described a savage beating, curses and threats of rape as he was forced to kiss the boots of the police officers who tormented him on 26 June. “They pulled my shirt over my head and every hundred metres they hit me in the face and kicked me,” he said. …more

Bahrain releases more than 140 detainees
By the CNN Wire Staff – August 8, 2011

(CNN) — Bahraini authorities have released more than 140 detainees, including two ranking former opposition members of Parliament and a prominent opposition lawyer, government officials said.

The two former MP’s are members of the largest Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, which resigned from Parliament in February over the killing of pro-reform protesters, most of whom were Shiites.

Former Al Wefaq MPs Matar Matar and Jawad Fairuz were “tortured” while in the custody of Bahraini national security forces, Matar said. Following an interrogation with a military prosecutor, Matar said he, Fairuz and a few others were taken to what he believes was a military site. They were brought to an open area outside and told to raise their hands. Approximately five men began to beat them with sticks for about 30 minutes, Matar said.

The beating took place after Matar said he had completed answering questions from a military investigator. The security forces “didn’t want information.” They wanted to “send a message that we have a green light,” to do whatever they want, Matar said.

Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said he believes — based on what people previously in detention have told him — about 98 percent of people in custody had suffered physically abuse, including beatings, elect shocks and sexual assaults. “No one was immune… very rarely will you find someone who was not abused,” Rajab said. There have other been credible allegations of torture by Bahraini security forces from human rights groups, including Physicians for Human Rights. …more