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Bahrain: Deteriorating Prison Conditions Threaten more than 4,000 Political Prisoners

Posted on by Salam Media
27
Oct

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This paper is a study by Bahrain Forum for Human Rights and SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights evaluating Prison Conditions in Bahrain. This study was reviewed at a press conference on 20th of October 2017, with the participation of Mr. Jawad Fairooz, Chairman of SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights and Mr. Baqer Darwish, President of the Bahrain Forum for Human Rights.

Introduction

Bahrain is witnessing a serious deterioration of the human rights situation, especially after the closure of the democratic space and the failure of the security grip to deal with the movement of peaceful protests. The Bahraini authorities thus paved the way for a series of local legislations that have been introduced or developed, such as: Terrorism Law, the Military Justice Ordinance, which authorize death penalty in more than 60 articles and articles.

According to documented statistics, more than 12,000 Bahraini citizens have been subjected to arbitrary detention since 2011, including more than 4,000 victims of torture and ill-treatment, 968 arbitrarily detained children, 330 women (currently 12 women in prison). Since 2011, Bahrain has also witnessed more than 400 cases of revoking citizenships and nationalities as well as more than 4997 injuries due to the violent repression of peaceful assemblages.

According to the study prepared by the International Center for Criminal Policy Research, Bahrain ranked first in the Arab world in terms of the number of prisoners, with a prisoners’ number of about 4,000 persons, at 301 per 100,000 populations, while America ranked first in the world with 2.2 million prisoners.

The deterioration of prison conditions in Bahrain is the other face of arbitrary detention, where conditions of prisoners in rehabilitation centers do not meet with Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and is providing a fertile environment for torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions on one hand; and on the other hand to revenge from opposition crowds. 21 methods of torture and ill-treatment are used on 4,000 political prisoners.

According to the information received, the deterioration of the prison conditions includes all four official prisons in Bahrain, but is more rigorous in the Dry Dock Prison (is a preventive temporary detention center) and Jau Central Prison (a jail Center for those convicted and are serving their sentences), compared to the women’s prison and the juvenile prison.

The transformation of Bahraini prisons into a fertile environment for torture and ill-treatment deliberately deprives detainees and prisoners of a number of rights as a means of reprisal and pressure. That warns of high number of victims who may lose their right of life, as what happened to Mohamed Sahwan, who was deprived of his right to medical treatment. More like cases of Hassan Al Sheikh, Muhammad Mushaima and Jaafar Al Darazi, who were released from prison to the graves after losing their lives. The persistence of impunity and enabling security officers of torture threaten the fate of more than 4,000 political prisoners in Bahrain. Therefore, the degree of risks amounts to a red flag towards the conditions of these prisoners.

The security authorities also impede the access of a large number of political prisoners from their right to health care, some of whom suffer from serious chronic diseases, such as some of the opposition leaders: Hassan Mushaima, Dr. AbdulJalil Al Singace and Parweez Jawad, and some detainees such as Elyas AlMualla, Jaafar Maatooq and others.

A Bahraini child named Mahdi Meftah was recently subjected to severe torture, which caused the removal of one of his testicles from his reproductive organs in the military hospital after his enforced disappearance for 6 days. Mahdi is not released until this moment nor is enabled to meet with his lawyer or to hold accountable those involved in torturing him. This outbreaks questions about the level of rampant impunity for those involved in the arrest or torture of more than 900 Bahraini children to date.

 

Methods of torture against prisoners:

  1. Slapping and punching
  2. Kicking
  3. Beating with hands and different objects
  4. Electric shocks
  5. Abuses with sexual nature
  6. Stripping naked
  7. Exposing the victim to very high or low temperatures
  8. Standing for long hours
  9. Sleep deprivation
  10. Deprivation of eating and drinking
  11. Denial of access to toilets and shower
  12. Harmful handcuffs and shackles
  13. Threat of sexual assault to the victim or his family
  14. Solitary confinement for days
  15. Defamation the victim in the media before conviction
  16. Detention for hours without justification before the investigation begins
  17. Cursing and sectarian badmouthing
  18. Inflicting a firearm to a level amounting to torture
  19. Denial of treatment and health care
  20. Denial of communication
  21. Short-term enforced disappearance

Concerns on the ground

  1. According to local human rights reports, from 2011 to 2017, the Bahraini authorities carried out arrests (more than 12,000) related to the popular protests that erupted in February 2011. Based on what the victims, their families or documents we have seen, it appears that most of the observed cases of detention fall into at least one of the following categories, those that fit under the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in the United Nations, On the exercise of freedom of expression and assembly (category II) and those when international norms relating to the right to a fair trial (category III) are not respected.
  2. The Bahraini authorities arrested opposition leaders, human rights defenders and media activists, as well as everyone who criticized it in public speeches and even in social media. They were accused of “promoting the change of the regime by force”, “inciting hatred of the regime”, “Insults against the king, the flag of the state or its national emblem”, “insulting a foreign state or an international organization”, “insulting the official bodies”, until state laws are now used as a punishment tool to silence opponents.
  3. According to the information received, the Bahraini authorities have violated the minimum guarantees of the right of persons to obtain fair trials. The judiciary has condemned many of the victims on criminal charges based on confessions that were extracted under torture and coercion, without examining their claims in a serious and genuine manner. That is also without enabling lawyers to plead or not to give lawyers sufficient opportunity to plead, or ignoring requests by lawyers that could change the course of the trial, and so on.
  4. Furthermore, the authorities have not complied with legal procedures to ensure that detention is considered and maintained in accordance with fair trial standards. Where it appeared that the security services did not abide by the public prosecutor’s permission to arrest the victim and notify him or his representative when the arrest was carried out. They did not inform the victim of the reasons for his arrest nor the body that is carrying out the arrest. They did not reveal where the victim was being taken, nor does enable him to communicate, as soon as possible, with his family and lawyers in a sufficient and adequate way to clarify his legal and health status to his family and obtain proper legal advice at the first stages of his investigation.
  5. It is noted that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has held numerous views that Bahrain has violated “numerous international standards relating to the right to a fair trial”1. It expressed concern that “the use of confessions as evidence for prosecution and conviction is common in the investigation system currently adopted in Bahrain”2 and that his conclusions on the use of torture and arbitrary detention – including detention resulting from the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the absence of a fair trial are shown to be “structural problems in the criminal justice system in Bahrain”3.

Arbitrary arrests between 2011 and 2017

  1. In 2012, for example, female activist Masooma Alsayed was arrested on the 3rd of April after her sit-in in front of the US Embassy in solidarity with the hunger strike of human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. Rights activist Nabeel Rajab was arrested and imprisoned for two years on charges of tweets on Twitter and “organizing illegal gatherings”. Human rights activist Zainab AlKhawaja was arrested more than one time for her participation in peaceful marches.
  2. During 2013, Hisham Al Sabbagh, a leader in the Islamic Action Society (Amal), was arrested on 25 April 2013 and charged with “establishing a group contrary to the law, the purpose of which is to disrupt the provisions of the Constitution and the law.” He was sentenced to 15 years in prison solely for being engaged in political activities. Blogger and translator Mohamed Sudaif and photographer Hussain Hubail were arrested on July 31, 2013 and charged with running electronic accounts calling for the overthrow of the regime, incitement to hatred of the regime and incitement to disobedience of laws, which was merely related to their anti-government activities in social networks. On September 17, 2013, Khalil Al Marzooq, the political assistant to the Secretary General of Al-Wefaq was arrested and charged with inciting and promoting terrorist crimes for a speech in which he criticized the regime.
  3. During the year 2014, Al-Wefaq Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman was arrested on December 28, 2014. He was charged with “promoting regime change by force and threats by using illegal means, and insulting a regular body” on the basis of his speeches between 2012 and 2014. He then got sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment. On other occasions, and specifically on October 24, 2014 MP Osama Altamimi whose membership in the parliament was revoked got charged with “insulting security men” during his candidacy for the 2014 elections. On 29 August 2014, human rights activist Maryam AlKhawaja was arrested on charges of “assaulting an officer and a policeman” when she was arrested on a previous charge of “insulting the king.” The photographer Ammar Abdulrasool was arrested on July 24, 2014 and charged with “gathering and possession of Molotov cocktails” for his activity in covering popular protests.
  4. During the year 2015, the former MP and a leader of the Al Wefaq Society, Sayed Jameel Kadhim, was sentenced for six months of imprisonment and a fine of 500 dinars on the charge of “violating the freedom of elections and disrupting them by publishing false statements aimed at influencing the outcome of the elections”. That was when he tweeted on Twitter and criticized the political money in the parliamentary elections. On May 27, 2015, a criminal court sentenced MP Khalid Abdelaal to one year in prison for “insulting the Ministry of the Interior” for tweeting on Twitter and criticizing the ministry for torture and other issues, even when he was enjoying parliamentary immunity at the time. On June 7, 2015, the head of the former municipal council and a leader of the Al Wefaq society Majeed Milad was arrested and charged with “inciting hatred against the regime and encouraging non-compliance with laws” after participating in a dialogue meeting on political issues. In January and February 2015, bloggers Ali Hassan Al Maqabi and Jalila Alsayed Amin were arrested after being charged with “insulting the king of the country and inciting to improve matters that are seen as criminal offense.” This came only after publishing political news and opinions related to political opposition movements.

 

Legislation that criminalizes freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly

  1. The Bahraini authorities have made a number of laws to silence political activists, human rights defenders, media activists and others associated with the opposition’s audiences. The most important of these laws are the Penal Code4, the Terrorism Act5, the Nationality Law6, and The Law on Public Gatherings7, so that the criticizing expression of opinion in social media or public forums are “inciting hatred of the regime”. Where demanding an establishment of a democratic system is “promotion to change the state system by force and disrupt the Constitution”, and calling for peaceful demonstration is “encouraging non-compliance with the laws.” In some cases, the authorities have made use of some of these laws to place charges of criminal or terrorist nature unrelated to the activities of such activists. The authorities deliberately dragged activists’ names in claimed cases of terrorist bombing or murder of a member of the security forces.
  2. For example, authorities have deflected criticism of public figures from public debates through (Article 214), which criminalizes “an insult to the flag of the State or its national emblem”, and (Article 215), which criminalizes” insulting a foreign state or an international organization”, and (article 216), Which criminalizes “insulting official bodies”.
  3. In the Terrorism Act, the authorities banished views expressing opposition to the Bahraini regime from public debates, for example, calling for the establishment of a democratic system, is a call to disrupt the constitution and laws.
  4. In the Nationality Law, vague texts gave the Minister of the Interior an extended discretionary power to request the revocation of nationality on persons accused of “harming the interests of the Kingdom” or acting in “contravention of the duty of loyalty”, as in Article 10, which gave power to be used widely against opponents.
  5. In the Law of Public Gatherings, the President of the General Security or his representative has the power to change the time and place of assembly, to change the route of a march or demonstration, and to dissolve the assemblies “for any reason that violates the public order”. The authorities used the “disturbance of public order” without criteria or determinants. The law went beyond that to put restriction on “organizing demonstrations, marches, rallies or sit-ins in the city of Manama,” or “those which are held or run near hospitals, airports, commercial compounds or places of a security nature,” based on new amendments on the legislation in 20138.

Prison conditions deteriorate:

  1. The deterioration of prison conditions in Bahrain is the other face of arbitrary detention, where conditions of prisoners in rehabilitation centers do not meet with Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and is providing a fertile environment for torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions on one hand; and on the other hand to revenge from opposition crowds.
  2. According to the information received, the deterioration of the prison conditions includes all four official prisons in Bahrain, but is more rigorous in the Dry Dock Prison (is a preventive temporary detention center) and Jau Central Prison (a jail Center for those convicted and are serving their sentences), compared to the women’s prison and the juvenile prison.
  3. The most important manifestations of the deteriorating conditions in prisons lies in:
  4. Neglect of hygiene and maintenance of facilities: Many prisoners complain of the spread of insect and mosquitoes inside prison corridors and rooms. The complaint made by political activist Khalil AlHalwachi for the Ombudsman about this is a case in point. AlHalwachi confirmed that detainees are sleeping with insects, especially cockroaches and at meal times they are surprised by the abundance of insects that are there. It should be noted that the annual report of the Bahrain Prison Commission for the year 2014 pointed to the absence of specific procedures for changing mattresses and pillows, that there is difficulty in handing over clothes from the families, and that there is no wardrobe for each detainee to keep his personal belongings9. A 2013 Annual Report of the Ombudsman also noted that there was a clear lack of maintenance, poor hygiene10, as evidenced by a video broadcast by activists on the media reflecting poor hygiene11.
  5. Violation of privacy: Although there are rooms reserved for lawyers to meet their clients, but the presence of a security man with them makes this meeting loses its privacy. The defendants also suffer from a violation of their privacy during the visit of their relatives to them, often accompanied by a security man.
  6. Absence of prisoners’ access to education: Although prison authorities have allowed detainees in some cases to continue their studies, they have not established any policies or procedures in order to provide them with opportunities to continue their education. Many prisoners complain of procrastination by the prison administration and lack of education for all prisoners, where procedures also may take a long time.
  7. Overcrowding: According to the Ombudsman report after visiting the central prison of Jau in September 2013, the capacity of the prison is 1,200, while the number of prisoners during the visit was 1,60012. It should be noted that activists on social networking sites have posted a leaked video clip showing prisoners in protest against overcrowding, which they are suffering from13.
  8. Poor health care: Despite the high number of detainees, particularly in Jau central prison and Dry Dock prison, only one doctor is available for one seizure per prison; and sometimes there are no doctor at all. As a result of this pressure on the doctor, and according to some testimonies does not enable the doctor to perform medical examinations in all cases, but only give painkillers. The doctor delays the transfer of detainees to hospitals and external clinics, while some of the detainees are prevented from being transferred as a result of the prison administration failing to take them to the medical appointments set by the external health center after the transfer of the prison doctor. Where prisoners who wish to receive treatment at a private health center – at their expense – are not enabled to do so. Despite the powers of the prison administration to release prisoners whose presence in prison is a threat to their lives, it often does not work with these powers.
  9. The deteriorating prison conditions have led to many complaints and numerous protests demanding prison administrations to meet minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners. The most prominent of these protests were the unrest in the Dry Dock Prison in 2013, and Jau Prison in 2015:
  10. Dry Dock Prison Unrest: In August 2013, police officers beat a group of defendants who expressed their resentment at the ill-treatment. The defendants refused to go for visits, demanding improvements in the detention center. Other groups accepted to go to the visits, showing bruises on their faces.

While human rights activists assert that the police used tear gas, stun grenades and batons to punish the defendants, resulting in 40 injuries.

In February 2016, the prisoners began another hunger strike, renewing the same demands that they had previously made. Prisoners said they were beaten, put in solitary confinement and forced to mimic the sounds of animals. Prisoners also complained about the presence of the glass barrier during visits.

  1. Jau Central Prison Unrest: The prison has witnessed many disturbances since the popular protests began on February 14, 2011, most notably the so-called “March 10 events” in which more than 1,100 prisoners were subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Unrest was faced by using teargas, stun grenades and shotguns, which led to the injury of dozens. Security forces entered the prison and beat all inmates, and took them out in the open, before being placed in tents. They were also deprived of their prayers and toilets, and were humiliated by forcing them to imitate the sounds of animals, and were cursed, their families and symbols of their country and religion.

According to information and testimonies available, the cause of the unrest is the harassment and ill-treatment prisoners are subjected to, the denial of medical treatment, the harassment during family visits, and the overcrowding of the cells.

It is noteworthy that a criminal court sentenced 57 defendants for 11 years for this unrest, and committed them together to pay about 508 thousand dinars as value of damages. While the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that it had listened to 126 witnesses of the police forces and staff within the prison administration and had begun investigating the accused of the prisoners in those incidents. Some of them had claimed ill-treatment during the investigation, as well as similar complaints by the Ombudsman that were all referred to the Special Investigation Unit (SIU). While the Public Prosecution ignored the investigation into excessive use of force and torture by security personnel to control the unrest.

The Ministry of the Interior and the Public Prosecution dealt with this incident in similar manner to a previous disturbance in the Dry Dock Prison in 2013, when they ignored the torture and ill-treatment15 16 of prisoners. While the National Institute for Human Rights said: “signs of ill-treatment were monitored on the prisoners’ bodies”17 during a prison visit. However, a court verdict was issued on September 25, 2014, that 19 defendants were sentenced to three years in prison and committed to 600 dinars’ worth of damages, after court’s handling of the allegations of torture18.

Some detention centers of the Ministry of the Interior and the National Security Agency:

  1. Jau Central Prison
  2. The headquarters of the current National Security Agency in Muharraq Island
  3. Headquarters of the National Security Agency in the basement of AlQaala.
  4. The Dry Dock Detention Facility (a short-term detention unit).
  5. Al Hidd Prison.
  6. Al Naeem Police Station.
  7. Gudaibiya Police Station.
  8. Riffa Police Station.
  9. Al Wusta Police Station (Central Province).
  10. Asri Prison.
  11. Budaiya Police Station.
  12. Exhibition Area Police Station.
  13. Madinat Hamad Police Station (Roundabout 17).
  14. Hoora Police Station.
  15. Isa Town Women’s Detention Center.
  16. Nabih Saleh Police Station.
  17. Samaheej Police Station.
  18. Sitra Police Station.
  19. Um Al Hassam Police Station.
  20. Ghuraifa police station.

Examples of violations:

Most of the activists were arrested in the middle of the night by groups of security forces who raided their homes and took them to unknown destinations where they were held incommunicado. Most of them claimed to be severely tortured during the first days of detention by officers of the National Security Agency, and were not allowed to contact their lawyers during the investigation period following their immediate arrest, which confirms to international human rights organizations that the standards of trials lack justice.

On May 5, 2017, Nizar AlQari19 who is a member of the Al Wefaq Shura Council was arrested on charges related to freedom of opinion and expression. He was subjected to interrogation, severe beatings and forced to stand for long hours. On December 13, 2016, Bahrain Center for Human Rights documented that Kamil Ahmed Hamida, a mentally disabled detainee, was tortured and ill-treated in the Criminal Investigation Directorate(CID), and received beatings on his ears led to difficulty in his ability in hearing. He was electrocuted in the soles of his feet and hot water was poured on his body in order to force him to confess to charges of gathering and photography of protest marches.

Human rights defender Ebtisam Al Saegh spoke to Amnesty International about the torture she had to endure for seven hours on the 26th of May 2017 in the building of the National Security Service in Muharraq. AlSaegh confirmed that officials of the National Security Service subjected her to severe psychological and physical torture, including sexual assault, in retaliation for her work. The sources said that AlSaegh went out of the investigations and was transferred to the hospital immediately. She had been attacked by media and government organizations and her car was burned in the past months. On the dawn of the 4th of July, armed security men stormed her house, without providing permission of inspection and arrest warrant, and she was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) and then detained in the Isa Town Women Detention Center.

On May 23, 2017, Mr. Adel Al Marzooq, head of the Monitoring Committee of the National Democratic Assemblage, was interrogated by the National Security Agency on his human rights activities that highlight human rights violations in Bahrain. It was reported that he was severely beaten on the head area by a solid object, stripped out of clothes, cold water poured on him several times, threatened to be raped, forced to repeat the words like “I am a traitor to the homeland” and forced to resign from his work in rights.

In recent weeks, the National Security Agency has summoned large numbers of human rights activists and subject them to intimidation, reprisals, torture or other ill-treatment in order to force them to suspend their activities. As the case of head of the monitoring committee at the Bahrain Human Rights Society, Abduljalil Yousif, who was interrogated for four hours, during which he was subjected to abuse, threats and ill-treatment, to force him to quit his human rights work.

On 4th of July 2017, masked security personnel raided the house of human rights activist Mohammad Khalil Al Shakhoori, in Karzakan, and took him to an unknown destination. Al Shakhoori was one of the human rights activists who were summoned to the National Security Agency NSA facility in Muharraq in May. After his release, he reported that he had been severely beaten, subjected to physical abuse, electric shocks and sexual assault in order to force him to freeze his activities and work in the field of human rights.

Shortly after the International Day of Support for Victims of Torture, on 22nd of June 2017, the National Security Agency interrogated Mohammed Hassan Sultan, the son of the former MP Sheikh Hassan Sultan, one of the opposition leaders. Mohamed was tortured during the interrogation by officer Mohamed Hazeem. He was also stripped out of his clothes and forced to stand for long hours and was threatened with sexual assault and informed that he was forbidden to travel by a decision of the National Security Agency.

On 1st of August 2017, Yousif Al Jamri, a blogger, was summoned by the National Security Agency and interrogated for 16 hours in three separate sessions, blindfolded. Al Jamri, through his personal account on Twitter, released information about his investigation on terrorism-related issues despite his personal account being a neutral news platform. He also said that his phone was confiscated and was insulted and his religious beliefs, threatened with rape and denied his family the right to education and housing. The blogger confirmed that he was subjected to physical and psychological torture in interrogation sessions. He was summoned again for questioning and threatened to be arrested from his house if he did not attend. However, he did not comply with the phone calls he received on his wife’s phone pending a formal summon from the security authorities. He did not go to investigate again until the time of writing this report.

It is noteworthy that the National Security Agency has launched a large campaign to recruit activists to work for the security services. Independent Bahraini human rights organizations20 have documented numerous human rights abuses by members of the National Security Agency in the security facility on Muharraq Island, specifically on the third floor, room number one. Some of these abuses are:

  • Interrogating with human rights activists while they are blindfolded for long hours and forcing them to stand for the entire period
  • Failure to allow the presence of a lawyer to follow the proceedings of the investigation, contrary to Article 20 of the Constitution
  • Severe beatings
  • Disrespect of religion
  • Blasphemy, insult and humiliation
  • Psychological torture and threats of sexual abuse
  • Verbal harassment, sexual abuse and vandalism
  • Electric shocks
  • Threats and intimidation of targeting members of their families if they do not quit their work with local and international human rights organizations
  • And to force some to publicly announce their resignation from human rights activity.

Recommendations

  1. We appeal for the urgent visit of the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect the conditions of prisons and detainees
  2. Allow special rapporteurs of the United Nations to visit Bahrain immediately, foremost among them the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
  3. Responding to the demands of political prisoners to receive their rights under the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners: the right to adequate health treatment, the right to adequate food, the right to education, the right to practice religious rites and other demands.
  4. The Bahraini authorities must recognize the existence of prisoners who have been convicted solely for exercising their freedom of expression or peaceful assembly and work for their immediate release.
  5. The Bahraini authorities must respond to the request of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and adopt its views issued since 2012 on the release or compensation of a number of victims.
  6. The Bahraini authorities must repeal the articles of the Penal Code and the Law on Gatherings that criminalize freedom of expression and restrict the right to peaceful assembly, or modify them to imply with international law
  7. The Bahraini authorities shall repeal or amend the articles contained in the Terrorism Act and the Nationality Law that is employed to punish dissidents.
  8. Training all prison guards and security forces on proper ways to deal with detainees and protests inside the prison.
  9. Accountability of officials, security personnel and any security forces for the torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, especially in events that have witnessed severe disturbances.
  10. Prepare clean and new buildings to ensure the safety and wellbeing of detainees, and launch a contract with a cleaning and maintenance company to do what is necessary.
  11. Enabling prisoners to meet their relatives or lawyers in a confidential and private manner.
  12. Establish a clear mechanism to ensure that education at all levels – including higher education – is provided to all prisoners and work on facilitating this.
  13. And to improve the clinics of the prisons so as to ensure that the detainee is properly treated and allow detainees to be treated at external medical centers if appropriate treatment is not available at the clinic or the governmental public hospitals in Bahrain.

Footnotes:

  1. Views adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its 70th Session in 2014. (20 November 2014). Document No. (A / HRC / WGAD / 2014/27). Date of recovery 18 November 2015, from the OHCHR website: http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/WGAD/2014/27
  2. Views adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its 70th Session in 2014. (19 November 2014). Document No. (A / HRC / WGAD / 2014/22). Date of recovery 18 November 2015, from the OHCHR website: http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/WGAD/2014/22
  3. UN Body Declares Sheikh Ali Salman Arbitrarily Detained. (17 September 2015). Retrieved 19 November 2015, from the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) Web site: http://birdbh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Opinion-2015-23-Bahrain-Salman.pdf
  4. Bahraini Nationality Act of 1963. (16 September 1963). Date of Recovery October 29, 2015, from the website of the Legal and Legal Advisory Board: http://www.legalaffairs.gov.bh/LegislationSearchDetails.aspx?id=2197#.VjIIj7crKUm
  5. Law No. (58) for the year 2006 on the protection of society from terrorist acts. (August 16, 2006). Date of Recovery 20 October 2015, from the website of the Legal and Legal Advisory Board: http://www.legalaffairs.gov.bh/LegislationSearchDetails.aspx?id=2125#.ViZhnX4rKUk
  6. Decree-Law No. (15) of 1976 promulgating the Penal Code. (April 8, 1976). Date of Recovery 20 October 2015, from the website of the Legal and Legal Advisory Board: http://www.legalaffairs.gov.bh/LegislationSearchDetails.aspx?id=4069#.ViZhhX4rKUk
  7. Decree-Law No. (18) of 1973 concerning public meetings, rallies and gatherings. (13 September 1973). Date of Recovery December 15, from the website of the Legal and Legal Advisory Board: http://www.legalaffairs.gov.bh/LegislationSearchDetails.aspx?id=3969#.VOvNNvnF-4k
  8. Decree-Law No. (22) of 2013 replacing Article (11) of Decree-Law No. (18) of 1973 on public meetings, rallies and gatherings. (15 August 2013). Date of Recovery 15 December 2015, from the website of the Legal and Legal Advisory Board: http://www.legalaffairs.gov.bh/LegislationSearchDetails.aspx?id=30498#.VnaaxRV96Un
  9. Annual Report of the Committee on the Rights of Prisoners and Detainees (2014-2015). (2 August 2015). Date of recovery 25 July 2016, from the website of the Commission on the Rights of Prisoners and Detainees: http://www.pdrc.bh/reports/
  10. Annual Report of the Ombudsman (2013-2014). (May 2014). Date of recovery 25 July 2016, from the website of the Commission on the Rights of Prisoners and Detainees: http://www.pdrc.bh/reports/
  11. Jau Central Prison. (31 January 2015). Date of Recovery July 25, 2016, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsMeMuNxPPI
  12. Annual Report of the Ombudsman (2013-2014). Previous reference.
  13. After the arrest by the Ministry of Interior to a policeman on charges of “smuggling mobile phones.” Video “lexicon” of the “prison of Jau.” (27 February 2015). Date of Recovery July 25, 2016, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbUfzPEzHjI&feature=youtu.be
  14. Fifteen defendants were jailed for 15 years in Jau prison case. (25 January 2016). Date of Recovery 26 January 2016, from the Bahrain News Agency website: http://www.bna.bh/portal/news/707803
  15. The competent security services intervene to control the riot and sabotage in the detention center. (16 August 2013). Date of Recovery 25 January 2016, from the Bahrain News Agency website: http://bna.bh/portal/news/575440
  16. The Public Prosecutor’s Office began investigating the riot and assaulting of an officer and police officers at the detention center. (17 August 2013). Date of Recovery 25 January 2016, from the Bahrain News Agency website: http://bna.bh/portal/news/575453
  17. The National Institute for Human Rights visits the Detention Center. (17 August 2013). Date of recovery 25 January 2016, from the website of the National Institute for Human Rights: http://www.nihr.org.bh/mediacenter/s64/hidnews1/17_Aug_2013.aspx
  18. Three years in jail for 19 accused after being convicted of a prison riot. (25 September 2014). Date of recovery January 26, 2016, from Al Wasat newspaper website: http://www.alwasatnews.com/news/923487.html
  19. http://www.alwasatnews.com/news/1238493.html
  20. http://arabic.salam-dhr.org/?p=1789