Bahrain Mirror: The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) affiliated to the public prosecution, and that established to investigate torture cases and maltreatment by the police against the citizens, claimed that it has completed its investigations in the case of a detainee who died at the Dry Dock on July 30 and concluded that the cause of his death was natural and any criminal suspicion was ruled out.

The SIU questioned all the detainees in the same ward and who stated they had not noticed any injuries on the detainee; listened to the statements of his father, wife and sister who concurred they had not noticed any injuries on him when they visited him while he was in detention and heard the statements of the Detention Centre's on-duty physician, guards and police personnel who said they transferred the detainee to the clinic immediately after the other detainees in the same ward called for assistance. He was shifted to hospital where he died.

The SIU also viewed the minutes of the Public Prosecution's questioning of the detainee on July 12 for his involvement in a terror case. It also viewed the Police questioning report. Neither record mentioned he was subjected to any torture or maltreatment. The prosecution agent did not notice any visible injuries on him at that time and viewed the report compiled by the assigned forensic doctor who examined the detainee at that time and did not indicate any sign or trace of criminal violence, resistance or scuffle.

The officers who arrested and detained him were also asked and they both dismissed any sort of torture, maltreatment of the detainee during his arrest and detention processes.

The forensic doctor assigned by the SIU to examine the deceased's body concluded that there was a myocardial infarction (blockage) of the arteries feeding the heart muscle. His death was the result of a cardiac arrest, which concurs with the symptoms sustained by the deceased before his death and mentioned by his fellow detainees.

The SIU assigned the Criminology Lab to examine the deceased's attire, and the tests proved they did not have any traces of blood and ordered a judicial police investigations in the case. Investigations concluded that the detainee was not subjected to any sort of harsh or inhumane treatment and that there were no criminal suspicions in his death.

The SIU stressed the importance of exchanging information through all means regarding cases of torture or inhumane treatment. However, those who disseminate information must be careful not to distort facts for propagandistic or sensationalist considerations. The SIU noticed that the deceased's photo appeared on several social media websites that deliberately fabricated matters for the purpose of thrill or propaganda. Such baseless allegations are denied by the video and the pictures of the deceased taken before and after the autopsy and which clearly prove there were no injuries.

Arabic Version