Family of AbdulJabbar Ahmed is concerned about the fate of their son and demand his release
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) expresses its concern about the safety of Bahraini citizen Abduljabbar Ahmed, 32 years old, from Karzakkan – south of the capital Manama. Ahmed was reportedly abducted from his office at dawn on Sunday, August 11 2013, by intelligence officers in civilian clothing who said they work for the Criminal Investigations Department.
The BCHR team received detailed information about the case that provided that AbdulJabbar Ahmed Ali works in the Samsung Construction Co. as security guard, and this company has been assigned the responsibility of guarding a sewage station in the Hidd area. While Ahmed was at work inside the security office, approximately at 2 am, a civilian car tried to enter the station, but the guards told those inside the car that they are not allowed to enter that area. A few minutes later, a police patrol tried to access as well but the guards prevented them from doing so. After approximately 15 minutes, civilian cars and police patrols surrounded the security room, entering by force and confiscating the phones and car keys of the present guards. They informed them that they are affiliated with the Criminal Investigations Department and commenced to search the guards’ cars. They then returned all phones and car keys except for Abduljabbar Ahmeds; who they arrested and took to an unknown location. Before leaving the security guards’ room, the civilians affiliated with the CID threatened the present guards from talking to anyone about the arrest of AbdulJabbar Ahmed otherwise they will face the same fate.
At approximately 4:45 am, a group of civilians accompanied by police patrols raided the apartment of AbdulJabbar Ahmed located inside his father’s house in the village of Karzakkan, searching the apartment without providing a search warrant. They then left the apartment without informing the family that their son had been arrested. The family contacted Abduljabbar Ahmed to alert him about the incident, but his phones were turned off. After numerous attempts, the family received the news of his arrest. The family informed the BCHR that they believed the authorities had tampered with Ahmed’s phone as his “Watsapp” application status was online during the time he was arrested.
On the evening of Tuesday, August 13, 2013, Abduljabbar Ahmed contacted his family from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The phone call lasted for less than a minute during which he only said he “was fine and no time to talk”. He made another phone call from the CID building at noon on Thursday, August 15, 2013 and informed them that he “is fine” and when they asked about his place of detention, the line was cut before he could answer. The lawyer tried to get information about Ahmed’s place of detention and the case for which he was arrested, but the authorities, until the time of publishing this statement, refused to release any information.
AbdulJabbar Ahmed’s family fears that he may be subjected to torture and ill-treatment at the CID building. The BCHR has documented numerous cases of torture that occurred, and in most cases the detainees had called his family and stated that he “is fine”. His lawyer has also expressed concern about the possibility of Ahmed being taken to the Public Prosecution for interrogation without a lawyer, that has become a recurring event in Bahrain. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) has documented several cases in which detainees were forced to confess malicious charges under threats of torture; and other detainees also reported getting beaten and/or threatened by the prosecutor and some renewal judges.
Based on the above, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) calls for the following:
- Reveal the whereabouts of detained AbdulJabbar Ahmed, and in the absence of any evidence of crime, immediately and unconditionally release him
- Allow Ahmed the right to a lawyer and family visits