Front Line is deeply concerned following reports of the detention and torture of Shaker Mohammed Abdul-Hussein Abdul-Aal, Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan and Hasan Kathom Ebrahim Ahmed of the Unemployment Committee; Ali Mohamed Habib Ashoor and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor of the Committee for Detainees; Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor of the Committee Against High Prices; and Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan of the Committee Against One Percent. These human rights defenders are active defenders of labour rights in Bahrain.
Further Information
Posted 27/05/2008 On 15 April 2008, at approximately 12:30am, Shaker Mohammed Abdul-Hussein Abdul-Aal, Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor and Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan turned themselves in to Hamad Town Police Station. On 11 April 2008, at approximately 11pm, Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan was arrested at his home. On 10 April 2008, at approximately 1pm, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor was arrested at his home. On 9 April 2008, at approximately 3:30am, Ali Mohamed Habib Ashoor was arrested at his home. On 31 March 2008, at approximately 1pm, Hasan Kathom Ebrahim Ahmed was arrested at work. According to reports the houses of the detainees were forcibly entered and raided without court orders by Special Security Forces (SSF) and armed militia members. Residents were allegedly insulted, private belongings - such as mobile phones and laptops - were confiscated, and money was taken.
Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor and Ali Mohamed Habib Ashoor were arrested at their homes whilst, in some cases where the wanted human rights defenders were not at home, summons notices were left for them to report to Hamad Town Police Station. Some of the human rights defenders' family members were held hostage until the summons notices were answered.
Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor and Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan were detained under accusations of burning a State militia car on 9 April 2008. Shaker Mohammed Abdul-Hussein Abdul-Aal, Hasan Kathom Ebrahim Ahmed, Ali Mohamed Habib Ashoor and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor were detained under accusations of starting a fire on the farm of Shaikh Abdulaziz Atteyatallah on 6 March 2008. Shaikh Abdulaziz Atteyatallah is a former head of the National Security Bureau and is allegedly known locally for involvement in torture incidents during the 1990s.
The human rights defenders have reportedly been held in solitary confinement, deprived of sleep and food, beaten and tortured. A form of torture known as Falaqah has been used against them whereby a hard stick is inserted between the detainee's cuffed hands and tied legs, and then used to suspend the detainee in the air for hours with his legs facing upwards and his blind-folded head facing downwards. The detainee's feet are then beaten until he makes a confession or loses consciousness. The detainees have been denied access to their lawyers. Applications for family visits have involved lengthy waits and restricted conditions.
In recent times there have been other cases of detention and torture of human rights defenders in Bahrain. On 21 December 2007, Shaker Mohammed Abdul-Hussein Abdul-Aal was arrested by SSF members in relation to peaceful demonstrations marking the 13th anniversary of the death of two young Shiite men who were killed by Security Forces while participating in a demonstration calling for the restoration of democracy. Between 21 and 27 December 2007, Abdullah Mohsen Abdulah Saleh, Maytham Bader Jassim Al-Sheikh, Majid Salman Ibrahim Al-Haddad, Ahmad Jaffar Mohammed Ali, Hassan Abdulnabi, Nader Ali Ahmad Al-Salatna and Hassan Abdelnabi Hassan of the Unemployment Committee; as well as Mohammed Abdullah Al Sengais of the Committee Against High Prices; Naji Ali Fateel of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) and Ebrahim Mohamed Amin-Al-Arab, a founding member of the Martyrs and Victims of Torture Committee, were arrested in relation to the same event. They were accused of having taken part in an ‘illegal gathering and rioting’ and of ‘theft of a weapon and ammunition and possession of a weapon and ammunition without permission’, and placed in detention. Some have been subjected to forms of torture such as Falaqah, electrocution, sexual abuse and sleep deprivation while being held in unsanitary conditions which threatened their physical and psychological integrity. Front Line has written to you on a number of occasions regarding the ongoing human rights violations connected to the seven remaining detainees of December 2007. Furthermore, on 25 December 2007, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), was physically assaulted and verbally insulted outside the Office of the Public Prosecutors by a masked Bahraini officer and three SSF members when he was requesting permission to enter the building.
Front Line is concerned that the detention and torture of Shaker Mohammed Abdul-Hussein Abdul-Aal, Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan, Hasan Kathom Ebrahim Ahmed, Ali Mohamed Habib Ashoor, Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor and Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan is a result of their legitimate work in the defence of human rights, in particular their work to defend labour rights in Bahrain. Front Line sees this as part of an ongoing trend of harassment of human rights defenders. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological welfare of the above-mentioned human rights defenders.