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A juristic gap between the Military Court and the Civil Court, and an unknown fate for the detainees

by Courtesy

Bahrain: A juristic gap between the Military Court and the Civil Court, and an unknown fate for the detainees from the protests of the 14th of February
July 10th, 2011 – BYSHR

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its concern regarding the unknown fate of the detainees from the 16th of March 2011 after the authorities suppressed the protests in Bahrain.

On the 29th of June 2011, the King of Bahrain issued a decision to transfer protestor cases from the Military Court to the regular court.

This decision did not contribute to a fair trial for the following reasons:

1- Transferring the cases from the Military Courts does not mean reinvestigating the cases again by the General Prosecution, where only the files of the detainees will be transferred without a new investigation. The BYSHR has previously questioned the integrity of the evidence that the military prosecution and military court relied on.
2- The convicted in the primary courts and appellants in the Military Courts will be only permitted the Cassation Court, and the Cassation Court in the regular court cannot take the right decision that would contribute to the fairness of the judiciary.

3- The Military Court did not investigate in the torture allegations and did not permit the recording of the claims in the hearings proceedings, and the regular court will not be able to investigate since the marks of torture have disappeared after this long period.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) affirms that the Military Prosecution has violated the legal procedures, especially that there are many detainees whom their detention period has exceeded three month, without charging or releasing them.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) considers that the duration taken for transferring the cases from the Military Court to the Regular Court is an additional punishment against the detainees that have not been charged, and the international human rights law refuses the punishment of any defendant until being charged guilty by an independent and just court. Based on this, the BYSHR demands the immediate release of all detainees, as well as the instant and independent investigation in the arbitrary arrests, the long detention periods with no charges and the allegations of torture. …source