The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses concern over the medical status of detainee Mohamed Mirza Rabie and the authorities’ continuous exploitation of judicial tools to keep him in detention on fabricated charges.
Mohammed Mirza Rabie (22 years-old) from Al-Dair village has been in detention since 27 June 2012. His family stated that his ability to hear and see is steadily deteriorating as a result of the beating he received on his head following his arrest; the authorities also reportedly sprayed his eyes with incendiary material, and blindfolded him for 5 days. His family also stated that he is suffering from severe back pain as a result of erosion of vertebrae in his spine, which resulted from a shotgun injury he received a few days before the arrest. The police reportedly beat Rabie directly on the injuries on his back in order to extract a false confession.
After many appeals from the family to provide medical care to Rabie, he was finally examined two months ago by a specialist doctor at Salmaniya medical complex. The doctor prescribed a medical belt for Rabie to wear twenty-four hours a day, and requested a CT scan. However, Rabie has still not received the prescribed belt, nor he was taken for the CT Scan or attended any of the physical therapy sessions that he requires.
Mohamed Mirza Rabie has been in hiding since the government’s crackdown on peaceful protesters in February 2011. In November 2011, he was sentenced to one year imprisonment in absentia for “illegal gathering and vandalizing a police car with stones.” He was again sentenced in absentia on 24 January 2012 to an additional year imprisonment on similar charges. Finally, in May 2012, he received a third prison sentence of six months for illegal gathering.
On 27 Jun 2012 he was arrested by armed civilians after several house raids and his place of detention kept unknown to his family for over 5 days. He was beaten in all parts of his body in order to force him to confess the premade charges. His family was allowed to see him 21 days after arrest and a family member says his body was “disfigured” due to the beating, electric shocks and torture he received and he was not able to see from his eye. He told his family that those who had beaten him had deliberately targeted the entry wounds caused by the birdshot pellets still embedded in his back.
Mirza spent nearly a year in the Dry Dock detention center while the officers at Samaheej police station fabricate new charges against him. Each time one of his cases was sent to an appeal court, the judge dismissed the case, citing a lack of creditable evidence. Every time his lawyer moved to have him released from detention, another charge was brought against him. In total, over eleven cases were brought up against Rabia. Three months ago, he was moved to Jaw prison to complete his sentences.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights also notes other cases of detained prisoners who are in urgent need for medical care, but are currently being denied the required medical treatment, including:
- Abdulwahab Hussain who has been recently diagnosed recently as suffering from nerve damage;
- Abduljalil Alsingace who suffers from, amongst other ailments, from sinus inflammation and a perforated eardrum for which he needs surgery;
- Hasan Mushaima, a former cancer patient who is not receiving the required medication since his arrest;
- Younes Ali Hadher, a 22 year-old suffering from epilepsy;
- Photographer Hussain Hubail, who suffers from a heart condition and has been frequently losing consciousness;
- Mohamed Sahwan who is suffering from the pain of having eighty birdshot pellets in his head;
Last month, one detainee Yousif AlNashim (31 years old) lost his life due to being deprived the required medical attention in prison.
Based on the above, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights calls on the United States, the United Kingdom, the UN and all other allies and relevant institutions to put pressure on the Government of Bahrain to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release of Mohamed Mirza and all other political prisoners in Bahrain.
- Provide Mohamed Mirza and all other prisoners with adequate medical and psychological treatment.
- Put an end to the use of torture as a tool to extract false confessions, and allow the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to visit Bahrain.
- Put an end to the exploitation of the judicial system as a tool to punish those who practice the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly to demand rights and democracy, and hold accountable those who fabricate charges against detainees.
- End the culture of impunity practiced at the highest levels of government, and initiate accountability for those who have committed, ordered, or allowed human rights violations to occur, particularly those in high positions.