Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Chapter VI — Allegations of Human Rights Violations Against the Person
deceased’s whereabouts. The family placed several other calls, first to an
officer at the same station and then to the head of the police station. The
family was then informed that the accused was on a special mission and could
not answer his telephone. After further questions, the family was informed
that the accused had entered into a brawl with the army and that they were
keeping him and his car until the next morning. That same evening, a relative
of the deceased called Khamis police station and was informed that she could
file a missing persons report the next day. That evening, she and another
relative went to Hamad Town police station (at Roundabout 17) in order to
enquire about the deceased. They were instructed to file a complaint at
Manama police station, but after some debate they were allowed to file it at
the same police station as the security situation rendered it risky for the family
to drive into Manama at that hour. The family members returned to their
home and telephoned the deceased’s phone. The person who answered stated
that they had killed the deceased and then made sexual threats towards the
deceased’s female relative. She screamed and hung up the telephone but the
person on the other line called back and continued to harass her. The family
continued receiving calls from the same phone; in one instance, the person at
the other end of the line claimed to be the deceased, but the family insisted
that they would have recognised the voice of the deceased. Later that evening,
a colleague and friend of the deceased called the family and informed them
that he had heard rumours of the deceased’s death. He helped the family by
looking for the deceased at SMC and at BDF Hospital. On 20 March 2011,
the family received news from a relative who had visited the SMC morgue
who confirmed he had seen the body of the deceased at the morgue. The next
day, at 11:00, the deceased’s body was returned to the family. The family has
not received the deceased’s car or his two mobile phones and has no further
information about his death. They stated that Khamis police station and the
MoI have not cooperated in helping them gather details related to the
circumstances of his death.
1045. The Military Prosecution interrogated six military personnel, two
medics and police personnel. The investigation concluded that the deceased
was at a barricade manned by a BDF unit. The purpose of the barricade was
to stop entry to and exit from Al Sihla district due to the situation on the
ground. Two vehicles approached the barricade and were ordered to turn
back. One vehicle complied, and the other gained speed and rammed into the
barricade. The car then began to drive towards the unit, which prompted the
personnel manning the BDF vehicle to fire a warning shot, followed by shot at
the front and tires of the approaching vehicle. This stopped the car and
injured the driver. The BDF personnel opened the car and found that the
driver had been severely injured with a .50 Browning bullet, which had
entered his body above the knee and exited from his lower abdomen. The
ordnances report established that the bullet had been fired at the body of the
vehicle and not at the victim, and that it had been deflected off the body of the
vehicle and the tyres to enter into the victim’s body. The BDF also questioned
the paramedics who had been dispatched to the scene, and they corroborated
the story of the BDF personnel. The BDF-JAG concluded that BDF personnel
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