Bahrain denial of UN Human Rights Rapportuer coincides with torture and forced confessions of prisoners

Bahrain: Human Rights Defenders in Prison, Torturers Walk Free, and UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Denied Access
02 May, 2013 – Bahrain Center for Human Right

The Gulf Center for Human rights (GCHR) and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) denounce the decision of the Bahraini authorities to cancel the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez which was schedule to take place from 8 to 15 May 2013.

In an official statement, Mr. Méndez stated, “This is the second time that my visit has been postponed, at very short notice. It is effectively a cancellation as no alternative dates were proposed nor is there a future road map to discuss.”

Over the past two years and since the crackdown on peaceful protests in Bahrain, GCHR and BCHR continue to receive with grave concern ongoing reports of torture of detainees in Bahrain, including human rights defenders and activists.

The leading human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was subjected to a severe level of torture starting from the time of his arrest on 9 April 2011. While handcuffed and blindfolded he received a severe blow on the left side of his face with a metal object. This caused him to fall on the ground bleeding profusely due to deep cuts close to the left eye and a number of fractures in the jaw, cheek, and nose. This prompted the security forces to transfer him to the military hospital where he received stitches and underwent complex surgery to address bone fractures. X-ray images show about 18 plates and about 40 screws that were used to join fractions. At the hospital he was kept blindfolded and handcuffed to the bed in a painful manner that prevented him from moving. He was moved to Alqarain prison after only six days in hospital.

From the second day of his arrival to prison the nightly torture began. In his statement to the court Al-Khawaja said, “The torture that was inflicted on me during that period included continuous standing with hands lifted for many hours, beating the back of the head with a heavy tool, blows to the back, beating the back of the hands with the door lock, beating the feet with shoes, forcing me to kiss pictures of the rulers of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia which were put on the cell’s walls, forceful removal of clothing, sodomizing using sticks, indecent insults related to dignity and religious beliefs, forced self-cursing, forced declarations of loyalty to the political leadership under the threat of beatings and rape.” (Read his full testimony on http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5338)

Al-Khawaja is currently serving a life sentence on charges of “attempting to overthrow the government by force.” Currently, no one has been held accountable for the torture which he endured.
At least five cases of death that occurred in 2011 were attributed to torture in custody, as confirmed by the report of the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) including the death of blogger Zakariya Al-Asheeri on 7 April 2011 (BICI Report: http://www.bici.org.bh/BICIreportEN.pdf) However, two years later no one has been found responsible for any of these deaths, yet the court has acquitted all accused in the Al-Asheeri case. (BCHR Report: http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5673 )

Both the GCHR and the BCHR are gravely concerned over the policy of impunity practiced in Bahrain, which continues to protect the perpetrators and those responsible for torture at the same time as the human rights defenders who report and document these abuses are being put in prison, ill-treated and tortured.

Bahrain ratified the 1984 Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 1998. Article 2 of the Convention requires States “to take effective measures to prevent [torture] in any territory under its jurisdiction.” …more