(Beirut) – BahrainI Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) announced today that a court has sentenced 13 people to prison after an unfair mass trial marred by due process violations and torture charges.
These convictions are part of ongoing violations of freedom of expression, assembly, and due process by Bahraini authorities. The Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the appeal on December 10, 2023, during which time it will need to credibly investigate allegations of torture by the defendant, which were not properly investigated by the lower court.
“When faced with allegations of torture, courts did not investigate them and instead relied on the testimony of security forces, some of whom were alleged to have committed the abuses,” said Saeed Ahmed, BIRD advocacy director.・Mr. Al Wadaei said. “The Court of Appeals should properly investigate the torture allegations ahead of the Dec. 10 trial.”
Bahrain’s First Criminal Court on September 26 found 13 defendants guilty of using force against prison guards and vandalizing prison property following peaceful demonstrations in a mass trial of 65 defendants. was lowered. tidy By inmates of Jau Prison in April 2021. The other 52 defendants were acquitted. In addition to serious due process violations, including denying prisoners the right to attend their own hearings, the court did not adequately investigate defendants’ claims of torture and excessive use of force by prison guards.
April 2021 demonstration The move follows the April 6 death of Abbas Malala, who was imprisoned for participating in the 2011 pro-democracy protests., His death was most likely due to medical malpractice. An investigation by Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) found that prison authorities denied Malala adequate medical care and denied her medical care after she passed out in her cell on the night of her death. Delayed. In response, some inmates in his three buildings at Jau Prison have refused to return to their cells, demanding accountability for Malala’s death, access to proper medical care and regular communication with her family. demanded.
Prison authorities subsequently held all inmates in the three buildings who did not participate in the hallway sit-in protests in solitary confinement for more than 10 days.
On April 17, prison guards and special riot police entered three buildings and used excessive force against protesting inmates. Based on prisoners’ testimonies to the prosecutor’s office, security forces also forcibly entered the locked cells of prisoners who were not participating in the protests and used acoustic grenades and pepper spray against them. Marta Hurtado, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said special police forces used “unnecessary and disproportionate force” to break up a “peaceful sit-in” and Bahraini authorities will investigate the excessive use of force. said it should.
BIRD and Human Rights Watch analyzed more than 3,000 pages of court documents to assess allegations of torture against defendants.
Hasan Ali Al Shuwaikh, one of the 13 people convicted, said in a handwritten statement submitted to the court: [locked] The cell told the police to stop beating the prisoners because they were demanding their rights. At that time, we were surprised when riot police came, opened the cell door, threw five sonic grenades, then went inside and pepper sprayed us. ”
Said Abdel Imam Helal, a prisoner who was assaulted by a prison guard, described the assault in an interview with the public prosecutor’s office on April 25, 2023. Based on his interview transcript, he said: [into the cell] Then he hit me over my left eye with a baton, and I fell to the ground and lost consciousness. When I woke up in the prison infirmary, I was told I had a broken bone above my left eye. ”
Said Alawi Alwaday said in a handwritten statement submitted to the court on July 25, 2023:[prison guards] They beat us badly with sticks and dragged us outside. [the cell] … They insulted us and our religion, spit in our faces, and one of them put a shoe in my mouth. ”
Most of the inmates charged in the trial detailed abuse that occurred on April 17 when they were transferred to another prison building, known as Building 15. In court documents, several people testified that officers repeatedly used metal objects, including pepper spray canisters and wheel wrenches. To defeat them. One of the prisoners, Yousif Ahmed Abdullah, said police hit him 16 times in the head, leaving him with severe head injuries that authorities were unable to treat. A medical report submitted to the court by a doctor from the prosecutor’s office matched the description of Abdullah’s injuries.
According to court testimony, the inmate was then held in isolation in Building 15 for 19 days and was subjected to further abuse, including being denied medical treatment.
In 2021, Bahrain’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman launched separate investigations into incidents surrounding the protests and the response of prison authorities. The SIU investigation has not been made public, and authorities have not provided details about the status of the investigation. The Ombudsman’s investigation was carried out immediately after the incident on April 17, 2021, and was released on April 22, as the allegations were found to be false.
The United Nations Committee against Torture also found that both the Ombudsman and the SIU were “ineffective given that complaints ultimately pass through the Home Office.” Human Rights Watch and BIRD have revealed that the Ministry of Interior itself is involved in the torture and abuse of prisoners.
Both organizations will conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Bahrain is a party. could not.
The trial was marred by due process violations. During his first two hearings and on the day of his sentencing, none of his 62 inmates at Jau Prison appeared in court, violating the defendant’s right to be present at his own hearing. His three other inmates were no longer detained at Jau Prison but were able to attend. In its final ruling, the court relied solely on the 2021 interview with the prosecutor’s office and rejected the defense’s request to cross-examine the officers who allegedly abused the inmates.
In its final verdict, the court said: “Given that the court based its conviction on the case documents and supporting evidence, we find that the witness statements are unnecessary.”
Human Rights Watch and BIRD have reported extensively on violations of due process rights in Bahrain, including sham trials in which defendants were sentenced to death. These trials were plagued by due process violations and were based solely or primarily on confessions obtained through torture and ill-treatment.
International and Bahraini law guarantee a defendant’s right to a fair trial, including legal representation and the calling and cross-examination of witnesses at all stages of the case. The United States and the United Kingdom, in particular, have increased diplomatic and economic support for Bahrain in recent years, despite Bahrain’s widespread human rights violations, and have helped gloss over these violations through statements praising Bahrain’s human rights record. ing.
“Through increased support to Bahrain, the United States, Britain and other countries are giving the country’s authoritarian government permission to continue its rampant violations of freedom of assembly and due process,” the human rights group Bahrain Yemeni said. said researcher Nik Jafarnia. clock. “These countries should use their diplomatic positions to encourage Bahraini authorities to respect due process rights and stop mistreating prisoners.”