State Security Law in Bahrain - Torture

Torture

Torture remained rife in Bahraini prisons under the State Security Law and was most often conducted in the initial phases of detention against persons undergoing interrogation. In addition to extracting “confessions” from suspects during these interrogations, torture was a method employed to obtain signatures from detainees to renounce political affiliations, desist from anti-government activities in the future, or force their cooperation with authorities by reporting activities of others, namely, political opponents. Statements from former political detainees indicate that common forms of torture included: physical beatings, psychological abuse, sexual molestation, threats against the detainee’s family and friends, and insults and humiliation towards the detainee and the Shia faith.

The Bahraini government failed to release the names of individuals who were arrested or the locations where they were detained. The vast majority of these individuals were denied defense attorneys or access to family members during their detention, and were tried privately by the government’s State Security Court, where most due process protections were absent. No efforts were made to investigate allegations of torture or the deaths of demonstrators for reform. The Bahraini government continued to deny human rights organizations like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch entry to the country for official information-gathering trips to investigate allegations of torture and human rights abuses.

The Bahraini government continually denied that forces under its authority committed widespread violations of human rights, that it remained within the legal boundaries with regard to arrest and judicial procedures, and that detainees received fair trials and treatment while in custody. The government also denied that it sanctioned any form of torture or physical abuse in any manner. The government legitimized its strong-arm tactics by citing incidents of violence committed against security forces and acts of sabotage perpetrated by “extremist elements.” Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United States in 1997 reaffirmed his government’s position, noting that the human rights “allegations made against Bahrain originate from a very small, but skillful group of fundamentalist zealots and extremists, who connected to terrorists in Bahrain.” No evidence was produced by the government to support these statements or others proving foreign involvement in Bahrain’s domestic affairs as the source of domestic tensions or as justification for the manner in which authorities handled political unrest. Furthermore, there is no evidence that persons responsible for condoning acts of torture were disciplined for those acts. The current government introduced an Amnesty Decree that prevents impunity for crimes committed under the former constitution. To date, no alleged perpetrator has been tried for torture or ill treatment even though the practice of torture in Bahrain during the 1980s and 1990s has been well documented.