On Tuesday, 22 September 2020, ADHRB has delivered an oral intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 45 during the interactive debate with the Independent Expert on international order. 

 

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The use of Mercenaries in Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia to engage in Systematic Human Rights Violations

 

On 13 July 2015, during the month of Ramadan, Husain Jaafar Saleh was arrested at a bazaar in Al Malikiyah, Bahrain. He was a 27-year-old final-year engineering student at the Bahrain Training Institute and owned a shop that sold bags. Initially, Husain was sentenced in absentia to five years imprisonment. He maintains that he did not know the details of the case for which he was sentenced. Later, Husain was sentenced to a total of 33 years in an unfair trial on the basis of confessions obtained from other defendants on charges of setting fire to an ATM, burning tires, rioting, and being in possession of highly flammable material.

At the time of his arrest, Husain was preparing his stall at the bazaar. When he went to retrieve an item from his car, he noticed a number of large vehicles belonging to the Ministry of Interior (MoI) stationed in the parking lot. Subsequently, MoI officers disguised by wearing traditional Bahraini abaya and niqab arrested Husain without presenting an arrest warrant.

Following his arrest, Husain was held incommunicado by the Bahraini authorities for an entire day. During his detention, he was tortured and abused at the hands of Bahraini authorities. On 14 June 2015, Husain called his family from Al Badeeh police station asking them to bring him clothes. However, when his wife went to the police station to ask about her husband’s whereabouts, the police officers claimed they did not know where he was.  Two months later, on 13 August 2015, Husain’s family was permitted a visit. This was the first time they had seen each other since Husain’s arrest. Husain did not disclose the details of his torture during the interrogation, for fear that he would hurt his family’s feelings. However, he had bruises around his wrists from where he had been hung from the ceiling.
 

Read the full report here.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) and the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SR), published a communication sent to the Bahraini government regarding the case of a sixteen-year-old Bahraini student who was charged with assaulting a police officer, manufacturing a fake bomb, burning tyres and disrupting traffic on the streets. The UN experts expressed their serious concerns regarding the multiple human rights violations against the sixteen-year-old minor, namely the use of torture and forced confessions resulting in unfair trials. Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) provided the information contained in the communication through its UN Complaint Program. ADHRB echoes the same concerns as the UN experts and demands that the officials responsible for the alleged torture and other violations are held accountable for their unlawful acts.

The WGAD is one of the Special Procedures offices of the UN Human Rights Council. Its mandate specifically provides for the consideration of individual complaints aimed at qualifying a detention as arbitrary or not.

From the other side, the SR on torture receives and examines information concerning torture in order to act upon it. He conducts country visits, makes recommendations and observations on the measures to prevent torture practices, integrates a gender perspective throughout his work and much more.

In their communication, the WGAD and the SR recalled the findings of ADHRB. The WGAD and the SR concluded that upon the confirmation of allegations against Bahraini officials who have committed torture, the government of Bahrain would be in breach of its human rights obligations protected by a number of ratified international human rights treaties.

Read the full article here.

- Bahrain says foiled `terrorist attacks` backed by Iran in early 2020 (Reuters)

Bahrain’s interior ministry said on Sunday it had foiled a “terrorist attack” early this year that was backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The statement confirmed earlier media reports about an alleged planned attack and added a timeframe.