General Assembly Distr.: General 1 September 2010

United Nations A/HRC/15/NGO/34

English only

Human Rights Council Fifteenth session Agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention

Written statement* submitted by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status

The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31. [23 August 2010]

* This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting nongovernmental organization(s).

GE.10-15771 A/HRC/15/NGO/34

The unpunished crime: systematic torture in Bahrain**

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), supported by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), would like to express grave concern over the deteriorating state of human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the systematic use of torture as a tool to silence critics of the government. Unlike other countries in the Gulf region, the Kingdom of Bahrain is member to three human rights treaties that prohibit torture as well as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment: the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Arab Charter on Human Rights. Yet, the Bahraini government has continuously failed to live up to its international commitments or to respect the deadlines for presenting reports to the treaty bodies of these respective instruments. The Kingdom's Constitution, penal code, and code of criminal procedure, explicitly prohibit the use of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Furthermore, under Bahraini legislation, victims of torture can also seek redress through civil action. However, Decree 56/2002 confers immunity from investigation or prosecution on government officials alleged to be responsible for torture or other serious human rights abuses committed prior to 2001. These provisions are in violation of the Convention against Torture. Moreover, officials within the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecution Office routinely deny that torture is being employed against detainees in Bahrain. However, CIHRS and BCHR would like to draw your attention to the following: 1. The Kingdom of Bahrain has witnessed numerous cases of torture and ill- treatment. The recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report entitled "Torture Redux" offers an example of such violations.1 Eleven of the 20 former detainees interviewed by HRW said that security forces had subjected them to torture by electro-shock devices. In addition, HRW uncovered several documents that appeared to corroborate allegations regarding the use of electro-shock devices.2 It should be noted that detainees with criminal charges are tortured in a manner which is more cruel and intense than their counterparts with political charges. Notably, this is because of a misconception within the governmental sector that citizens and civil society institutions do not usually sympathize with low profile suspects charged with criminal offences. In addition, victims of torture and members of their families are usually reluctant in filing complaints to human rights organizations against the perpetrators of such violations out of a fear of embarrassment and possible retaliation. It should be noted that during the past few years, Bahraini and international NGOs have documented that several detainees with criminal charges were tortured to death or died as a result of poor prison conditions.3 Nevertheless, the Bahraini government continues to deny its responsibility for their death.

** The Bahrain Center for Human Rights, an NGO without consultative status also shares the views. expressed in this statement. 1 Torture Redux. The Revival of Physical Coercion during Interrogations in Bahrain http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/02/08/torture-redux-0 2 A report by Ministry of Health doctors regarding Muhammad Tarif (whom Human Rights Watch was not able to interview) states that bruises on Tarif’s hand may have been the result of burns.121 As discussed, stun guns can cause short-term burns that form scabs. 3 Increasing Alleges of Torture against the Detainees on Criminal Charges http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/3042

2 A/HRC/15/NGO/34

In separate interviews, several former detainees told BCHR that they had been arrested by the Special Security Forces under the command of the National Security Apparatus (NSA). Allegedly, special suspects are kept in detention in several detention facilities during the pre-investigation period, including the Ministry of Interior’s General Directorate of Criminal Investigation (CID) detention site in Adliya, and the Manama Police Fort. The latter is located within the Ministry of Interior's headquarters. The interviewees also informed BCHR that the Special Security Forces officers subjected them to torture and other physical and psychological violations at a NSA detention facility. The great majority of Special Security Forces are reportedly foreigners who have been recruited from other Arab countries and Pakistan.4 This information has also been confirmed by the interviews conducted by HRW in its abovementioned report.5 Some of the alleged perpetrators have been identified by name, such as Major Yusuf al-Arabi, Captain Fahd Fadalah, Captain Bassam al-Muraj, Lieutenant Isa al-Majali of the CID, and First Lieutenant Badr al-Ghaith of the NSA. All these security officials are in fact officers working for the Ministry of the Interior. Furthermore, in late 2008 the king amended Decree 14/2002 to give NSA forces equivalent status to public security forces and to designate military courts as the only venue for the prosecution of NSA personnel. This made it impossible to file a civil or criminal law suit against the NSA or any of its forces.6 Sexual and gender based violence has been systematically practiced against detainees in Bahrain. Two of the individuals that HRW interviewed described episodes of serious sexual abuse or degradation. Issa Abdullah Issa reported that while he was blindfolded in a room at Adliya, guards firmly tied a flexible plastic handcuff around his male genitals and forced him to drink water excessively causing him excessive pain. Furthermore, another victim, Maytham Badr Jassim al-Shaikh reported that on the first day of his detention he was suspended by his wrists twice while being blindfolded. The officers then removed his clothes and pulled his legs apart. Then, al-Shaikh said, they inserted what he believes was a baton into his anus for a few seconds. 2. Several of the detainees were brought in front of prosecutors who failed to respond appropriately to their complaints of ill-treatment.7 In a number of instances prosecutors failed to record complaints, order forensic medical examinations, or launch any investigations into a detainee’s allegations. In some cases, prosecutors returned detainees to the custody of the same security officers allegedly responsible for the initial violation. Other prosecutors did appropriately send detainees for medical exams when the detainees complained of torture. BCHR has documented many testimonies confirming the torture of some detainees in the hallways of the Prosecution building, and that the heads of the Prosecution threatened the defendants and coerced them to admit and sign confessions that had been prepared in advance, or threatened to take them back to investigation and torture centres to force them to do so.8 BCHR envisages that the above mentioned violations of the Public Prosecution are due to the connection of its actual work with the security bodies, the National Security Apparatus in particular. Finally, it should be noted that most of the members of the public prosecutor's office were previously affiliated with other military and security institutions and were involved in human rights violations as well.9

4 Dangerous Statistics and Facts about the National Security apparatus http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/2784 5 Torture Redux, Ibid 1 6 Attorney and immunity from prosecution before Civil Courts http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/2698 7 Ibid, 5 8 The Public Prosecution and its Violations to Human http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/2965 9 Ibid

3 A/HRC/15/NGO/34

Therefore, CIHRS and BCHR call on the government of Bahrain to carry out the following steps: 1- Investigate promptly all allegations of torture or ill-treatment by security or law enforcement officials of any rank, and prosecute officials to the fullest extent of the law, in a court that meets international fair trial standards. 2- Immediately suspend any security or law enforcement official when credible evidence exists showing that such official ordered, carried out, or acquiesced in acts of torture or ill-treatment. 3- Appoint a special independent public prosecutor to investigate all allegations of torture or ill-treatment in detention by security or law enforcement officials as documented in this report, including in the Ministry of Interior’s General Directorate of Criminal Investigation (CID), and the National Security Apparatus (NSA). 4- Amend Decree 56 of the year 2002 to ensure that victims of torture or ill- treatment are able to file civil or criminal complaints against the NSA or any of its forces and receive appropriate compensation. 5- Enact legislation, consistent with Bahrain’s obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, clarifying that Decree 56/2002 does not preclude the investigation or prosecution of persons alleged to have committed torture or ill-treatment and does not eliminate the opportunity for redress or an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation by victims of torture or ill-treatment. 6- Amend the penal code by adopting a definition of torture consistent with Article 1 of the Convention against Torture in order to ensure that all acts of torture are criminal offenses under the law and that penalties reflect the grave nature of such offenses. 7- Ratify without delay the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture to allow its Committee to conduct regular visits to places of detention and submit overdue reports to the Committee 8- Grant nongovernmental human rights organizations, including medical professionals, access to all places of detention. 9- Comply with the essence of the voluntary pledges made during the Kingdom's Universal Periodic Review, and commit to cooperating with International Mechanisms Finally, we also urge Professor Manfred Nowak, the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to request a country visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain to investigate the mounting torture trend in the country.