Bahrain: A New Wave of Arrests Justified By The Uncovering A “Terror Plot”

Bahrain: A New Wave of Arrests Justified By The Uncovering A “Terror Plot”
Broadcasting “Confessions” on Government TV-Cannel before Legal Charging or Trial
Defaming Campaign against Activists and Leading Human Rights Defenders
Detention of Human Rights Defender Abdul-Redha Al-Saffar

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights expresses its deep concerns on the well being and safety of more than 14 Bahraini nationals who have been detained by the National Security Apparatus since December 15th, 2008, in relation to the alleged uncover of a “terror plot”. The BCHR is concerned of the use of such events in the ongoing campaign against activists and human rights defenders .
New wave of arrests and Arbitrary Detention:
A new wave of arrest started on December 15, 2008. All of the detainees were from Shia villeges in the outskirts of the capital Manama. Relatives reported that the arrests took place at dawn without proper legal procedures. The where about of the detainees was not known until the evening of 28th December when a government run TV channel broadcasted a video clip of “confessions” of some of the detainees accusing themselves as being part of an alleged “terrorism plot”.
Prior to the TV broadcast and up to this moment, the detainees have been held incommunicado and were neither allowed to seek legal counseling nor to meet with their families, a practice which could facilitate the use of torture and ill-treatment in order to coerce confessions as in many documented cases since December 2007. Lawyers who attended interrogation meetings by public attorney with some of the detainees reported signs of torture on the bodies of the detainees.
Names and photos of thirteen of the detainees were published in the daily press on December 29 as “the accused of the terror plot”. The published names were: from Sanabis village; Ahmed Yousef Al-Same’a (26 years), Mohammed Jamil Taher Al-Same’a (22 years) and Ali Jamil Taher Al-Same’a (28 years). From Jidahfs village: Mohamed Abdullah Abdulhusain Al-Shargi, (32 years) Mohamed Ja’afar Isa Ebrahim, (32 years), Hassan Jassim Mohammed and Fathi Jassim Makki Jassim. From Daih village: Yaseen Ali Mushaima (21). From Sar village: Hasan Ali Fateel (27 years). From Jeblat Hebshi village: Mohammad Khalil Ibrahim Al-Medawob (28 years). From Karranah village: Mohammed Hassan Saleh Al-Jazeeri (20years). In addition to: Mohsen Ahmed Al-Gassab (31 years) and Mohamed Salaman Abdul-Rasool.
It is worth noting that Hassan Jassim Mohammed, was arrested on December 18th, 2008 while preparing for a gathering to celebrate the first anniversary of his brother, Ali Jassim Mohammad (31 years), who was allegedly killed by the Security Special Force on December 17, 2007 while participating in a demonstration calling for truth and Justice for the victims of torture. The death case has not been investigated despite the wide unrest that took place after the death incident and despite the many public promises by government officials.

Detention of a human rights defender:
Apart from the published names, the fate of a detained human rights defender Abdul-redha Hassan Al-Saffar (36 years)- is not yet known. He was arrested in the early morning of Sunday 21st December 2008 from his residence in Mahooz village. Abdul-redha Hassan Al-Saffar is well known for his role in organizing peaceful sit-ins in collaboration with the families of detainees and the unemployed committee.
Defaming Leading Human Rights Defenders and Activists:
One of the detainees, Hasan Ali Fateel- a former member of the Unemployed Committee- stated in his broadcasted “confession” that Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, the former president of BCHR, had encouraged the unemployed in 2006 to organize a series of sit-ins near the Royal Court and the House of Representatives. However, the broadcasted video clip failed to make any relevant connection with the alleged “terror Plot” which was to be carried out in December 2008.
Other detainees stated in their broadcasted “confessions” that they were instigated and instructed by Mr. Ali Mushaima, a former leading member of the Unemployed Committee, and Mr. Abdulraoof Al-Shayeb, the former president of the National Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture. Both activists have been living in exile and were granted political asylum during 2008 in the United Kingdom. Before the announcement of the alleged “terror Plot” last month, the Bahrain authorities had been unsuccessfully trying to influence the UK to restrict the activities of Bahrainis living in London.
Other well-known activists mentioned as instigators were; Mr Hasan Mushaima, Secretary General of HAQ Movement of Civil Liberties and Democracy, Dr Abduljalil Alsingace, the head of Human Rights office at the same group and Sheikh Mohammed Habib Al-Meqdad, a Shia’ religious scholar who is well known of his public speeches criticizing the government for corruption and violations of basic freedoms and rights.
Despite the allegations against the aforementioned figures, and the defaming campaign staged against them in the government TV and government controlled daily newspapers, none of them has been arrested or legally charged.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights urges all concerned to share its call to the authorities in Bahrain:
1. To ensure the physical and psychological safety of the detainees and secure their rights of prevention from torture and ill-treatment, access to proper legal counseling, meet with their families, be treated as innocent until proven guilty and to have the right of fair public trial in accordance with international norms.
2. To immediately release human rights defender Abdul-redha Hassan Al-Saffar
3. To release of all detainees based on the lack of arrest and interrogation due procedures and the unlawful practice of condemning them as guilty in a public which reduces their chance of a fair trial
4. Stop harassing, defaming and detaining human rights defenders for their legitimate work in promoting and protection of human rights,
5. Conduct a thorough and impartial investigation in the reported violations and bring those responsible to justice.

More details and Background information
Broadcasting confession-video-clip before trial:
On the evening of 28th December 2008, the government run TV satellite channel broadcasted a video clip titled “Lost Deal with Terrorism: Diffusing a terror plot in the Kingdom of Bahrain”.
The video-clip started with emotional introduction with musical background describing the detainees in the so-called “terror plot” as criminals and terrorists while glorifying the “dedicated security forces of distinguished capacities who discovered the grave terror plot before being curried out”.
This was followed by a pre-recorded video clip of “interviews” with six of those arrested since 15th December 2008, denouncing themselves for participation in the “terror plot”. They blamed well known human rights defenders, political opposition and religious figures for inciting them. Although Shia’ themselves, they, strangely, stigmatized Shia’ religious institutions as places for inciting violence and terrorism. The recorded “confessions” were accompanied by special music effects, similar to that used in horror movies.
The recorded “confessions”, focused on intended “bombings and serious terror acts”, while the broadcasted photos only presented a small quantity of nails, a number of tiny iron balls, and three metallic boxes said to be used in the manufacture of explosives.
During the broadcast of the recorded “confessions”, video clips of riots and clashes, of no relevance to the defendants or the case, were shown. Some of the scenes shown were extracted from 2001 New Year riots which occurred at the Exhibition Road in the Capital by a group of hooligans. Other extracts were footage of events during popular protests in front of the American Embassy in 2002, aftermath the killing of Mohammed Al-Durrah, a Palestinian child, at the hands of Israeli forces. In addition to protests and unrest during last few years in deferent Shia’ Villages as a result of employment and lack of adequate housing as well as denouncing Government’s policy of arbitrary detention, torture and sectarian discrimination against Shiite citizens.
In that TV recording, the detainees “confessed” that while in Syria last summer, they were taken for few hours in three days to a farm in which they participated in “training to induce violence”. They also stated that they were instructed by a Bahraini young colleague who was recently granted political asylum status in the United Kingdom. Many relatives of the detainees told the press next day that their children have not travelled to Syria last summer.
Many of the detainees, who participated in the “confessions” replay, were arrested as teenagers during the nineties unrests. It is to be mentioned that they all come from the three neighboring village which showed relentless protests in the past period.
The Legal stance:
The Department of Public Prosecutions (PP) had warned the lawyers to refrain from distributing any information on the progress of investigation in this case. Hence, the lawyers were surprised when they heard about the televised confessions few hours before broadcasting. They made attempts to stop it through the Judge of the urgent cases court, but he was not reachable. They were more astonished to learn later by an official statement that broadcast of the TV confession episode was granted the blessings and permission by the PP.
Mr. Mohammed Ahmed, a member of the defense team, commented on the issue of broadcasting: “The State behavior of televising the confessions of the accused, is the conduct of disrespect to its judicial system, the Constitution and the principles contained therein”. He added: “It suggests that the State neither respects nor appreciates any of its enacted laws. My reference is the text of Article 245 of the Penal Code which states that:
Punishable by imprisonment, for a term not exceeding one year, or a by fine, not exceeding 100 Bahraini Dinars, who publishes, using any publication means, of things which could affect those entrusted to decide in any case brought before the judiciary or in charge of investigation or experts duties, or influence the witnesses who may be required to perform testimony in that case or investigation, or matters that would prevent the individual from disclosure of information to people of jurisdiction, or influence public opinion in favor of a party to the case or the investigation or against him. If the publication was in order to influence the said or proven false, it was counted as an aggravating circumstance”.
Background:
For the past two years, the Government of Bahrain has been trying to convince the British authorities to refrain from granting asylum to Bahraini dissidents and activists, in the pretext that they were involved in inciting violence. The attempts of the Bahrainis went further to ask the British for the nullification of the status granted to few of well known former activists in the Unemployed Committee and the Committee of Victims of Torture, when they were in Bahrain. It seems that broadcasting such “confessions” serves that purpose and introduces more pressure on the British Authorities to contain those activists.
The BCHR envisages that the recent campaign of detentions is part of a series of arrests targeting and containing human rights defenders and activists of popular committees in Shi’ite areas, whose youths exhibited relentless and spontaneous demonstrations and protests because of unemployment, low income and policies of sectarian discrimination they have been exposed to. It is widely known that Shiites youths are banned to join or recruited by some of the State institutions, effectively marginalized in all political and economic aspects of life, in addition to the systematic suppression of peaceful protests using foreign mercenaries.
As a comment on bringing the recently detained youth in the televised confessions, Mr Nabeel Rajab, the president of BCHR, stated that “The Bahraini authorities had seriously violated the defendant’s right of innocence until proven guilty, and grossly interfered in the function of the judiciary”. He added: “This is a preempt measure to secure a local public opinion and international condemnation to the detainees before bringing them to trial”.
It is feared that fabricating confessions and bringing up names of well known human rights defenders and dissidents may have been to set the stage for their arrest. More over, BCHR foresees that framing Shiite worship centers (or Matams) as nests of provocation may be a prelude to attack any public activities by the opposition in the coming days of Ashura.
Until recently, the security bodies in Bahrain have been known for fabrication of bogus security incidents and/or exaggerate signs of protest in the background of the security and political tensions in the country resulting from pending and unsolved public concerned issues. For several times and in order to cause a public diversion, the Government of Bahrain had portrayed many protests as acts of violence and terror plans. It even produced and broadcasted video films to support its allegations, the last of which is that submitted to the UN Committee Against Torture in 2005, a copy of which was received by BCHR and was later exposed to the public.
The Government of Bahrain, spoke also about terror cells and camps for inducing terrorism, but failed to provide any evidence in support of these claims and allegations. In 2006, it had claimed that it discovered a terror plot and a training camp for terrorists in the village of Bani Jamra. It was later found that it was bogus, and remained the focus of sarcastic comments in the press and the streets of Bahrain.

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