Calls for international role in support of Bahrain’s revolution

Calls for international role in support of Bahrain’s revolution
Bahrain Freedom Movement – 25/08/2011 – VOB

A seminar on Bahrain’s independence was held at the House of Lords at the invitation of Lord Avebury on Tuesday 23rd Agust 2011. Several people took part in it including two former prisoners from Bahrain who addressed the seminar by Skype. Here is a brief of the proceedings

Lord Avebury: I have been corresponding with our ministers for years. In 1993 Bahrain’s minister of interior was referring to a human rights committee as terrorist body. We know that Ian Henderson had been engaged in torture for years before. Today, the Al Khalifa assume absolute power; they arrest, abuse, torture and other violations. They added two more practices; systematic dismissal and recruitment of mercenaries. To protect himself the king appointed a committee to investigate the abuses that took place in February and March. It is a mistake to accept investigation by royal commission. Proper investigation should be held by an international commission sent by Navi Pillay. There is a common perception that the royal commission is susceptible to influence. Bissiouni has already exonerated the king, his sons and the military prosecutor. He is reported to have said that there were no signs of torture. Bissiouni knows that there are torture methods that leave no marks. He may have been misquoted but he is naïve to speak to the local media in the way he did. There was a demonstration at the commission’s office. I must emphasise that the commission must be given space to operate. It is my hope that grievances of victims are addressed. The regime is still holding senior figures such as Hassan Mushaime, Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja, Abdul Jalil Al Singace and others, some of whom had been with us before. Trade unions are also behind bars. More than 2600 people have been dismissed from their jobs and the number is likely to be over 3000. This means that at least 15000 people are destitute. Bissiouni has given the impression that these will be reinstated. The military court has been re-convened and more trials will be held in October while demonstrations have continued to protest the outrages of the regime. How can Bahrain be excluded from change while other countries are allowed to have regime changes. Our task is to wake up the media to the injustice in the Gulf. Let us mobilise our efforts to achieve this.

Sandrine Tiller of the Doctors Without Borders, the UK office, spoke briefly about the experience of her organization in Bahrain especially the attack last July on their personnel who were treating the injured Bahrainis. We found it difficult to register officially although the ministry of health knew of our presence. Most important event was on 27th July when our offices were raided violently. The door was smashed and property was taken and one member of our staff arrested. He was subsequently release but is awaiting trial.

Lord Avebury: This is humanitarian work, yet they were raided.

Mohammad Al Tajir (a lawyer who had defended many prisoners before): I was detained on 15th April when twenty people came to my house, confiscated my computers and other papers. They could not charge me for any offence and my only guilt was defending the defenceless. I gave a speech at the Pearl Roundabout. I was accused of inciting against the regime. My speech was a normal one. I was tortured for three weeks and was held in solitary confinement from 15th April until 9th June. I was taken to the military court on 12th June. I was released 7th August. I am suffering now as a result of the solitary confinement. I felt the experience of what had happened to the others before. Today there has been a decree to refer political cases to the military court once again. All detainees are civilians, yet they are tried by military courts which will start from the beginning. The doctors will be tried tomorrow by the military court. We could not reach Bissiouni despite several attempts. The reason is that he has an agenda that he is pursuing. I was sent to the Grane Prison which is run by the military. My neighbours were Sheikh Abdul Jalil Al Singace, Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja, Abdul Jalil Al Singace, Hassan Mushaime, and Sheikh Al Miqdad. I net them one week before my release. I heard their cries day and night. Abdul Hadi was severely Jawad and so was Mohammad Hassan Jawad. I also saw how Mahdi Abu Deeb, the President of the Teachers Association was tortured. I saw Sheikh Mohammad Habib Al Miqdad repeatedly because he was taken to the military court and had nine cases filed against him. I saw torture marks on his knee and legs. The worst times were when I saw Mr Al Khawaja being tortured. Sheikh Al Miqdad told us that he was tortured by a senior Al Khalifa figure at the Grain prison. We were threatened that we would get an order from “the Sheikh” to be handed to the Saudis. I can confirm that I had seen Yemenis, Pakistanis and Jordanians working with the security forces and torturing people. I was blindfolded for three weeks. I like to thank Pete Wetherby and Joshua Collingulu whose work played a role in our release.

Ayat Al Qurmuzi: (a female poet who had been imprisoned and tortured)

Ayat Al Qurmuzi: (a female poet who had been imprisoned and tortured)
I had no political role before the revolution, but after it started I felt that I was facing a historical challenge when I saw the blood of my people being shed with no mercy. I possess writing abilitiey, so I translated the suffering of my people which had lasted for decades. I expressed that in a poem that I had delivered at the Pearl Roundabout, in which I expressed those feelings. The poem was the main reason for my arrest and physical and psychological torture. Despite their attempts to break me, I hid my tears from the torturers. The pain was bigger than what the mind can imagine, but from the time they started torturing me I tried not to cry so as to deny them self-gratification. I did not want them to dance on the tunes of my sufferings. I was forced to sign a false confession. The pen was inserted between my fingers while I was at the peak of pain and fear among a herd of wolves with no human feelings. I hang between life and death at that moment so they managed to draw my signature. Pain and terror had dominated my mind and body and I had a strong tendency to cry out, but I resisted it and later I tried to express my feelings on paper with my tears. During my imprisonment a poem titled “My Cell is my Pearl Square” in my name but I had not written it, and I would like to know who had written it as it expressed faithfully my feelings.

My experience has taught me the significance of the word especially in the form of poetry and preaching the truth breaks the tyrants and defeats their dictatorship. Thus they wanted to jail the word in order to silence anyone attempting to describe the suffering of this people.

I will not forget my experience which is still dominating my mind. My experience with Noora Al Khalifa is one that I wish not one to experience again because it was extremely painful. It was an attempt to deny the person his or her humanity. The jailers wanted to break me under their lashes. They deprived me of sleep and used the worst possible unethical language. I did not believe that there was such sadism. They were sadist in the full meaning of the word. After this experience I feel that I have been born again having realized that the word is a mighty weapon in the face of the torturers. Our detainees are prisoners of conscience because they wanted to inform the world of the truth of our suffering. They are subjected to most horrific physical and psychological torture. Finally I like to say that I was imprisoned as an opposition figure and I have emerged from jail as a stronger opponent of the regime.

John Williams Lubbock talked about the need to immediately release all prisoners, because they are all illegally detained. It is important that senior critics are released as the regime cannot engage in dialogue without their participation. This is what President Obama had said before: No dialogue can take place while senior figures remain in jail. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights will eventually have its voice and the UN. US and allies said they wanted democracy but they did not take practical steps to achieve that in Bahrain. The regime would always term BCHR as a radical body but human rights organisations are not radical in any sense. …source