Bahrain Mirror: Amnesty International called for urgent action regarding the case of detainee Ali Isa Al-Tajer, who was referred to the Public Prosecution on November 30, 2015, which brought terrorism-related charges against him.

Amnesty further stated that he denied all the charges and told the prosecutor he had been tortured and forced to sign written confessions.

"Ali Isa al-Tajer was brought to the Public Prosecution on 30 November for interrogation, after 25 days without access to his lawyer or family. The prosecution only told Mohammed al-Tajer - one of his lawyers and also his brother - about the interrogation less than 30 minutes before it started. Ali Isa al-Tajer was charged with "joining an illegal terrorist organization to overthrow the government by force" and "training individuals on the use of weapons for terrorist purposes". He denied all the charges and told the prosecutor he had been tortured and forced to sign written confessions that he could not read as he was blindfolded. According to his lawyers, the charges are based on "confessions" from other detainees extracted under torture and from "secret" sources," it added.

Amnesty explained that "the prosecutor rejected Ali Isa al-Tajer's lawyers' requests to speak to him before or during the interrogation and threatened to remove one lawyer when he told his client he had the right to deny the charges. Ali Isa al-Tajer tried to describe how he was tortured but was told to stop talking and that his allegations would be handled by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU)."

"His lawyers have written to the SIU but have not received a response. They asked for Ali Isa al-Tajer to be given a medical examination by an independent forensic doctor, and the prosecutor said he would be taken to the court's appointed forensic doctor. His lawyers have received no examination results," it further said.

"After the interrogation, his lawyers were allowed to meet with Ali Isa al-Tajer for five minutes, with three policemen present. He told them he had been beaten all over his body, particularly on his head and genitals, and that he had a rope tied tightly round his genitals and pulled. He said he was forced to strip and kept naked for most of the 25 days, threatened with electric shocks, forced to stand for long periods and deprived of sleep. He said he had been held in a number of different detention locations, including the National Security Agency (NSA). Since his interrogation on 30 November, he has not been in further contact with his family or lawyers," Amnesty stated.

Concluding its statement, Amnesty International called for writing to the officials in Bahrain, "urging the Bahraini authorities to disclose Ali Isa al-Tajer's place of detention and give him immediate access to his family, lawyer and any medical attention he may require; and urging them to investigate his torture allegations promptly, publish the results and bring those responsible to justice and disregard any confessions extracted under torture in any proceeding against him.

Arabic Issue