Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
officers on the scene as well as a number of men in civilian clothing. They
were all wearing masks. They entered the house and started destroying
property. They made the inhabitants face the walls and blindfolded them
with their own shirts. They then made the inhabitants lie on their stomachs,
raised their feet and beat them with a hose. They insulted the witness’s
parents, called him a “son of a bitch” and threatened to rape his mother.
The detainee was initially detained for 13 days at Al-Qalaa. He was
blindfolded and handcuffed during this period. For the first two days his
hands were cuffed in a tight, painful position behind his back. Subsequently
his hands were cuffed in front. He was kept in a small cell with three other
detainees. There were no mattresses so they had to sleep on the bare floor.
They were not allowed to pray and their use of the toilet was restricted to
twice per day, and then only for a few minutes. This forced them to urinate
on the floor. The detainee was not allowed to shower. He was forced to
stand for extended periods; the first time was for 24 hours until he fainted.
On several occasions, cold water was poured on the detainee and then he
was then made to stand in front of an air conditioner. He was interrogated
approximately three times per day and was physically and verbally abused
during these interrogations. He stated, “They would insult me, and they
would unbutton my pants and tell me to jump like a rabbit until my pants fell
down. I was electrocuted with a small device behind both knees and
elbows.” He was repeatedly beaten with a hose, stripped naked and
suspended in a trapeze-like position. On two occasions they inserted a hose
into his rectum. On another occasion a wire was tied around his penis and
pulled. He could hear other detainees screaming, which prevented him from
falling asleep. During this time, he and the other detainees were not allowed
to call their families, and this was a source of enormous stress given that
their families knew nothing about them.
Subsequently the detainee was transferred to Dry Dock Detention Centre
where he was mistreated in a similar manner. He was kept in a cell with five
people and sometimes as many as ten. There was no toilet in the cell. When
detainees went to the toilet, they had to lower their heads and run to the
bathroom, and they were only allowed one minute. For several months, he
was only allowed to shower twice per week. The cells at Dry Dock had
mattresses and were generally cleaner than the previous detention facility,
and detainees were usually provided with adequate food. After three
months, families were allowed to visit but only for a few minutes. However,
after family visits the detainee was often beaten.
The detainee was not allowed to go to the hospital and he went to court for
the first time since his arrest only five days prior to this interview. He was
forced to sign a confession that included a charge of attacking an officer. He
was also beaten to force him to provide information about other people, and
he gave his interrogators false information so that they would stop beating
him. Conditions and treatment in the detention facility generally improved
after 15 July.
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