Bahrain: Eye-witnesses tell BCHR the details of an assault at Jaw Central Prison

At least 500 detainees injured after torture, and 10 transferred to solitary confinement

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights expresses its concern at reports coming from inside Jaw Central Prison that detail the torture of detainees, injuries among their ranks and their transfer to the solitary confinement block after a riot that occurred on Tuesday 10 March 2015. The incident began when a family protested after being prevented from visiting their relative. The Ministry of Interior claim that the family’s protest led to damage and vandalism in the visiting room- they say that this led to the arrest of one female Bahraini. On the same day, an uprising began in Buildings 1, 3, 4 and 6 of Jaw Central Prison. In the wake of this, police forces began to attack detainees. Photographs leaked from inside the prison, which BCHR has seen a copy of, show detainees were subjected to suffocation by tear gas during a huge security deployment in the prison.

An eyewitness informed BCHR that the incident began in Building 1 of the prison, when police forces locked the main door to the building and then began shooting tear gas canisters and shotgun pellets into the prison. The detainees responded by throwing empty plastic water bottles. The police then headed to Building 3, where they again fired tear gas. As a result, clashes broke out in which a police officer received light injuries. There were a large number of cases of suffocation among the detainees. Minutes later, special forces entered Building 4 and began randomly beating detainees, only stopping when one of the convicted detainees, Mohammed Sarhan, succumbed to suffocation. Only moments later, special forces attacked the building a second time, leading to further cases of suffocation among the detainees. They also received injuries from rubber bullets and shotgun pellets. The eyewitness added that the first wing that the forces took control of was one housing detainees sentenced to life and substantial terms in prison. The majority of state forces were from the Jordanian Gendarmerie forces.

The eyewitness told BCHR that large numbers of Jordanian Gendarmerie troops entered Building 4 of the prison and ordered detainees to stand in a line. They began beating the detainees with batons – the beatings were focused on sensitive areas of the body. The eyewitness added that the forces subsequently brought the detainees out of the courtyard behind the prison building and led them with their hands in plastic restraints, finally keeping some of the group on the ground before transferring others to the courtyard. There they were tortured and beaten. A group of them were taken to an unknown location which the witness was only later able to identify as Wing 10, which seems to constitute a number of private rooms – havens for the torture of detainees.

A second eyewitness told BCHR that at around 20:00 on Tuesday 10 March 2015, a group of police officers attacked Building 3 of the prison, which is allocated to detainees from 18 to 21 years old. They began beating the detainees, who numbered over 500, with batons. The detainees were taken out to the building’s corridor and thrown to the floor, and the police officers jumped over their bodies. “The detainees were laid out like a bridge, and all the officers took part in stomping on their bodies. Many had broken bones and bruising to the ribs and the limbs”. The eyewitness adds, clearly describing the state of the detainees, that the detainees “were taken in a line out to the outer courtyard – they were surrounded by people beating them. It’s a distance of about 300 meters, for which they were surrounded by two lines of police who beat them one by one. After that they gathered in the outer courtyard and began calling out their names and asking them irrelevant questions – the aim of this was to incite the detainees in order to justify beating and photographing them. The detainees were organized into a line, and each member of the Gendarmerie and the riot police forces beat them with batons. This continued until noon the next day, and all occurred under the watch of Nasser Bukhait, who witnessed police forces beating detainees and confiscating the mobile telephones smuggled into the wing”.

The eyewitness continues: “The detainees were told to stand in a line along the wall with their hands on their heads, and forced to chant slogans supportive of the regime. Others were forced to insult themselves and their relatives. Some were made to lick the shoes of police officers and to smear faeces on the wall. They were humiliated and made to dance and sing. This treatment went on until the evening – the detainees remained in the outer courtyard overnight before police woke them the following morning with a beating and further cursing. They were forbidden from visiting the toilet, and were forced to carry out their bodily functions in the courtyard. Some were forced to cut their hair and beards in a shabby fashion that caused a great deal of humiliation for them. At dawn on 12 March 2015 all the detainees were taken to the playground of Building 3, where security gards erected a big, dilapidated tent where the detainees were made to sleep while the building continued to be searched for smuggled mobile telephones. After that another group of detainees were brought. It was discovered later that they were from Building 6, which is allocated to detainees between 15 and 18”.

“Movement was forbidden, and anyone who moved was beaten straight away. After a while they brought mobile cabins, a kind of mobile toilet. The detainees were finding it very difficult to carry out their bodily functions there. Due to the miserable situation they were experiencing, the detainees indicated that they would begin a hunger strike. However, the prison administration hired forces known within the prison as the “Safrah” forces – they consist of many different nationalities. The forces began beating the detainees with batons to force them to eat. When some of them refused they were taken to a corner and made to kneel. Their hands were tied behind their necks and they were threatened with death or being transferred to Wing 10. The detainees were subjected to many different forms of torture – when the shift of the police ended, the shift of the Jordanian Gendarmerie, who took even greater revenge against the detainees, would begin”.

A leaked photograph shows the torture a detainee was subjected to inside the prison

Instead of allowing local human rights groups to visit the prison and confirm the safety of conditions inside, the Interior Ministry ordered detainees to be deprived of visits and phone-calls with relatives. This is considered a contravention of international law governing the treatment of prisoners. BCHR has learned that some of the detainees were transferred to the General Prosecutor accused of inciting riot within the prison. BCHR can confirm that the names of detainees given in this report (find list below) are only those that witnesses were able to recall – news of others remains cut off at the time of publication.

Based on the above, BCHR calls on the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Nations, as well as all close allies of Bahrain and relevant international organisations to put pressure on the government to do the following:

Clarify the fate of the detainees and allow their relatives and lawyers to meet them and confirm that they are safe
Allow the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to enter the prison and investigate the state of the detainees
Halt the policy of collective punishment practiced inside the prison
Begin a fair and transparent investigation into the testimonies of torture as reported by witnesses and detainees
Bring to account those who have committed violations, whether by ordering it, supervising it or carrying it out – bring them to justice no matter how high their positions

The following table lists the names of Building 3 detainees and the injuries they suffered, according to witness testimony:

Name	Region	Injury
Mohammed Majid Bahman	al-Manama	Beating with batons and kicking
Akbar Ali Ali	al-Bilad al-Qadim	Beating with batons and kicking
Yousef Hilal	al-Musali	Beating with batons and kicking
Abdallah Mahmoud	al-Naim	Beating with batons and kicking
Mohammed Fuad al-Eskafi	al-Diraz	Beating with batons and kicking
Abdallah Mohammed	Sar	Beating with batons and kicking
Mohammed Abdel Amir	al-Dih	Beating with batons and kicking
Ali Akbar	al-Moamir	Beating with batons and kicking
Basil Ibrahim	al-Sehla	Beating with batons and kicking
Hussein Nouh al-Hayaki	Hamad town – district 17	Beating with batons and kicking
Amjad al-Sheikh	Hamad town – district 17	Injury to the face and broken nose
Sayyid Dhiyaa al-Musawi	Hamad town – district 17	Beating with batons and kicking
Ahmed al-Sharqi	Hamad town – district 4	Beating with batons and kicking
Alaa Mansour Nasif	Bani Jamra	Transferred to Wing 10
Ali Maki	Dar Kalib	Beating with batons and kicking
Hassan Abdallah al-Ghasra	Bani Jamra	Beating with batons and kicking
Ali Abdel Amir	Bani Jamra	Beating with batons and kicking
Mohammed Jaafar	Bani Jamra	Beating with batons and kicking
Ahmed Abdel Ruuf	Bani Jamra	Beating with batons and kicking
Ali Amran	Bani Jamra	Beating with batons and kicking
Ali Abdallah Yousef	al-Akr	Beating with batons and kicking
Mohammed Abdel Hadi	al-Manama	Beating with batons and kicking
Ali Abdel Jalil	Ras Raman	Beating with batons and kicking
Ahmed Abdel Sadiq	al-Akr	Beating with batons and kicking
Mohammed Ibrahim	Dar Kalib	Beating with batons and kicking
Murtada Abdel Hadi	Hamad town – district 17	Beating with batons and kicking
Sayyid Majid al-Musawi	Buri	Beating with batons and kicking
Hussein Jaafar Fatil	Bani Jamra	Beating with batons and kicking
Sayyid Shabar Alawi	Salmabad	Beating with batons and kicking
Baqir Abdallah Amir	al-Sahla	Beating with batons and kicking
Mohammed Abu Aboud	Salmabad	Beating with batons and kicking and transfer to Wing 10
Hussein Hassan Jaafar	al-Nuwidrat	Beating with batons and kicking
Kadhem Abbas	Salmabad	Beating with batons and kicking
Mohammed Rida Hassan	al-Dir	Beating with batons and kicking
Sayyid Hussein al-Musawi	al-Bilad al-Qadim	Beating with batons and kicking
Ahmed al-Basri	al-Bilad al-Qadim	Beating with batons and kicking
Hussein Ibrahim al-Miqdad	al-Bilad al-Qadim	Beating with batons and kicking
Sadiq Jaafar	Dar Kalib	Beating with batons and kicking
Ali Abdel Rida al-Halibi	Hamad town – district 17	Beating with batons and kicking
Hani al-Manami	Sitra	Beating with batons and kicking
Ahmed Abdel Aziz	Salmabad	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received
Hussein Mohammed al-Fardan	Bani Jamra	Beating with batons and kicking
Salman Ibrahim	al-Manama	Beating with batons and kicking
Ridha Imran	Sitra
Ali Jaafar	Sitra	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received
Ali Abbas al-Asfour	al-Diraz	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Jihad Sadeq al-Habashi	Jablat Habashi	Beating with batons and kicking
Sayyid Haydar al-Musawi	al-Bilad al-Qadim	Beating with batons and kicking
Sayyid Ali al-Musawi	Ras Raman	Gash to the face
Qassim al-Batan	al-Diraz	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Mohammed Naama	al-Diraz	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received
Ammar Mansour al-Suwad	Sitra	Injury to the hand caused by sound bomb, gash to the face and bruising on the body
Sayyid Sandid al-Musawi	Sitra	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Ahmed Hassan	al-Nuwidrat	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received
Hussein Mohammed Ali	Dar Kalib	Beating with batons and kicking
Ammar al-Sitri	al-Nuwidrat	Beating with batons and kicking
Ahmed Yousef Malallah	al-Nuwidrat	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received
Mohammed Khaims Madan	Abu Qiwa	Injury to the hand caused by sound bomb, gash to the face and bruising on the entire body
Ahmed Hassan Yousef	al-Nuwidrat	Beating with batons and kicking
Hussein Hassan Yousef	al-Nuwidrat	Beating with batons and kicking
Hussein Mohammed Yousef	al-Nuwidrat	Beating with batons and kicking
Rida Abdel Amir	Aali	Gash to the face and bruising to the entire body – diabetes sufferer who has fallen into a coma many times
Isa al-Khuzna	Samahij	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Mohammed Jaafar	Samahij	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Mohammed Ali Ahmed	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Mahmoud Ali Hassan	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Hassan Musa Jaafar	Samahij	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Ali Musa Jaafar	Samahij	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Sayyid Jaafar Sayyid Abbas	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Sayyid Jaafar Sayyid Naji	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Sayyid Ali Sayyid Naji	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Mohammed Aziz	Sitra	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Mustafa Ahmed Yousef	Samahij	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Hassan Mohammed Hassan	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Abdallah Hassan Salman	al-Akr	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Dhaif Abdelnabi	Sitra	Injuries to the back and leg
Musa Abdel Ali	Samahij	Injuries to the back and leg
Ahmed Abdel Jalil al-Sitrawi	Samahij	Injuries to the back and leg
Ahmed Aoun	Samahij	Injuries to the thigh and leg, and a deterioration of the condition around his eye, which he lost after a direct gunshot
Ali Musa Leith	Dar Kalib	Injuries to the back and leg
Sayyid Hassan Falah	al-Manama	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Suleiman Habib Ibrahim	Hamad town – district 17	Moved to Wing 10
Hassan Aziz Faisal	al-Dir	Moved to Wing 10
Ali Jamaa Ibrahim	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – sufferer of sickle cell disease
Mahmoud Jamil	Jardab	Injuries to the back and neck
Wahib Abdallah Ahmed	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Ali Hassan al-Aradi	Arad	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Ahmed al-Baqali	Jadhafas	Injuries to the back and leg
Mahmoud Abdallah al-Aradi	Arad	Injuries to the back and leg
Ahmed Hamza Mirza	al-Dir	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Jasim Abdallah Yousef	Samahij	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Hussein Abdel Karim	Samahij	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Amir Isa al-Hayaki	Samahij	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Abdallah Hussein al-Ajouz	Hamad town – district 17	Injuries to the back and leg – sufferer of soft bone disease
Mohammed Abdallah Boutaki	Sitra	Injuries to the back and leg
Ahmed al-Sousou	Sitra	Unable to move due to the intensity of the beating he received – gash to the face
Hussein Mahdi	Hamad town – district 17	Injuries to the back and leg
Mohammed al-Sharqi	Jadhafas	Injuries to the back and leg
Mohammed Amin Abdel Hakim	Arad	Injuries to the back and leg
Hussein Awwal	Ras Raman	Injuries to the back and leg
Sayyid Mohammed Abdel Muhsen	al-Muhriq	Injuries to the back and leg
Amir Nadir	al-Muhriq	Injuries to the back and leg
Adnan Abdel Majid	al-Muhriq	Injuries to the back and leg
Amin Shaaban al-Mazin	al-Bilad al-Qadim	Suffered direct shot to the kidneys, although authorities know that he suffers from kidney failure and has had operations for this – also suffered suffocation and swallowed his tongue
Ali Isa	al-Dir	Injuries to the back and legs, and direct hit to the hand and stomach from a sound bomb
Ayman Salman	Samahij	Moved to Wing 10
Hussein Mahdi	Dar Kalib	Moved to Wing 10
Yousef Ahmed Yousef	Dar Kalib	Moved to Wing 10
Yousef Ahmed Abdelnabi	Dar Kalib	Moved to Wing 10
Ahmed al-Habashi	Arad	Moved to Wing 10
Hussein Aziz Faisal	al-Dir	Moved to Wing 10
Mohammed Abdel Amir Musheimah	al-Dih	Moved to Wing 10

The following table gives the details of the detainees of Building 4 according to eyewitnesses:

Name	Region	Injury
Ali Hamid		Swelling to the eye – he was also dragged by his hair to the outer courtyard and suffered extreme dizziness
Abdallah Jaafar al-Wazir		Injuries to the shoulder and back – beaten in the outer courtyard
Hussein Ali al-Sehlawi		Moved to Wing 10
Kamil Ahmed Ali	Karezkan	Swelling to the eye due to beating with batons
Jaafar Ahmed Ali	Karezkan	Injury to the head – forced to shave his head
Hussein Mohammed Khatim	Karezkan	Was assaulted at the site of a previous injury from an operation – collapsed in outer courtyard and moved to Wing 10
Hussein Ali Salman al-Marzuq	al-Diraz	Forced to shave his head and beaten with batons
Hussein Jasim al-Helou	al-Nuwidrat	Injuries to the shoulder and back – beaten with batons and had his head forcibly shaved
Mohammed Ahmed Sarhan		Beaten, humiliated and forcibly shaved – sustained back injury
Ali Qamir	al-Nuwidrat	Beaten with batons – sustained injuries throughout his body
Ali Yousef	Karezkan	Severely beaten leading to injuries to his back and swelling to his hand
Hassan Muslem	al-Muhriq	Beaten with batons
Ustad Mohammed		Suffocation
Jasim Sharara	al-Malikia	Taken to unknown location
Ridha	Qadhiat Rayat al-Iz	Broken leg
Ibrahim Jaafar	Hamad town	Swelling near the eye – beaten in sensitive areas
Younis Jaafar		Bruising to the shoulder
Kadhim	al-Sehla	Gash to the head caused by direct hit
Bashir	al-Sehla	Severely beaten on the back with batons leaving his clothes ripped
Jasim Fallah	Damestan	Broken hand and heavy bleeding
Naji Fatil		Moved to Wing 10 after severe beating
Mohammed Mirza “Abu Jibrail”		Unable to move – transferred to Wing 10
Ahmed Hassan Mashaymah	Jadhafas	Beaten with batons over his entire body
Qasim Zein al-Din	al-Diraz	Injury to the back
Younes Hadhir	al-Diraz	Injuries to the shoulders and legs
Sayyid Mazen	al-Dir	Beaten with batons
Sadeq Marhoun		Beaten with batons
Jaafar Maatouk		Beaten with batons
Younes Ashour	Samahij	Injury to the back
Sayyid Abdallah al-Alawi	Samahij	Hair forcibly shaved, beaten with batons
Jaafar Hamid	Sitra	Beaten with batons
Hussein Ramadan	Sitra	Beaten with batons
Mujtaba	al-Dir	Beaten with batons
Salman	al-Dir	Beaten with batons
Sayyid Mahdi Sayyid Ahmed	Sitra	Beaten with batons
Hamid al-Safi	Sitra	Injury to the back
Fadhil Abbas	Karzakan	Beaten with batons
Hussein Ali	Samahij	Beaten with batons
Sayyid Mohammed Sayyid Alawi	al-Sanabas	Beaten with batons
Salman Zein	al-Sanabas	Beaten with batons
Jaafar	Karzakan	Dislocated shoulder
Hussein Ghazwan	al-Bilad al-Qadim	Beaten with batons
Berbeer	Samahij	Injury to the leg
Jaafar Abdallah		Injuries to the head and thigh
Khalil Abdallah		Beaten with batons
Abbas al-Akari	al-Dih	Injury to the leg – beaten with batons
Salman al-Shenu		Broken hand
Ahmed Bu Hassan	al-Diraz	Injuries to the wrist
Jaafar Aoun	Samahij	Severe beating by punching throughout his body – moved to Wing 10
Abd Ali al-Sankis		Moved to Wing 10
Raid		Moved to Wing 10
al-Jaziri		Moved to Wing 10
Hamid al-Mahfudh		Sickle cell disease sufferer beaten with batons and moved to Wing 10
Abbas al-Samie	al-Sanabas	Beaten with batons and moved to Wing 10
Sheikh Ali al-Mustarshid		Fainted, beaten with batons
Jaafar Kawitan		Broken hand
Sheikh Zuhir Ashour	Karzakan	Beaten with batons
Ibrahim Mashkour	Abu Qiwa	Beaten with batons
Sheikh Mahdi		Beaten with batons
Sheikh Riyadh al-Hani		Beaten with batons
Ali al-Binaa	Hamad town – district 17	Beaten with batons
Yousef Ahmed al-Maamiri		Beaten with batons
Sayyid Ahmed	Buri	Beaten with batons
al-Abid	Salmabad	Beaten with batons
Aqil	al-Akr	Sufferer of mental health problems beaten with batons

At least 500 detainees injured after torture, and 10 transferred to solitary confinement

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