Bahrain Mirror: The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the largest opposition political group in Bahrain, has announced recording 5,098 victims of torture in Bahrain since the start of the peaceful movement in 2011, noting that since the onset of 2018, 201 victims of torture have been registered so far.

Al-Wefaq said in a statement marking International Day in Support of Victims of Torture that despite Bahrain's ratification of the Convention against Torture, it is still locked in the drawers, as the authorities practice the most severe physical and psychological torture from the moment they arrest activists and in secret interrogation rooms throughout the period of imprisonment to extract confessions, force them to abandon their civil activity or human rights work or to instill fear and terror to force citizens to stop claiming their rights.

Al-Wefaq added that the crimes of torture against prisoners of opinion left many of them killed inside the prisons of the regime or during their release from prison, adding that many of the released detainees still suffer from diseases to this day.

They were subjected to intimidation, abuse, threats, ill-treatment, sexual assault, beatings and electrocution. They were also forced to stand for long hours, deprived of medical treatment and sleep, and prevented from contacting their families and other ill, inhuman, degrading treatment.

Al-Wefaq stressed that torture is a systematic policy practiced by the authorities and it's a price that those who demand democracy and real reform in Bahrain are forced to pay, pointing out that the lack of supervision and accountability has exacerbated the crime of torture and the regime's adherence to this practice.

It further states that serious countering of torture requires physical and psychological treatment of torture victims, redress their grievances with fair compensation and, prior to that, fair trial of perpetrators of torture crimes, noting recommendation 1,716 from the Bassiouni (BICI) report that has not been implemented by the authorities, or any other recommendations, since torture is still ongoing and its victims are increasing, while the regime has been preventing the United Nations special rapporteur on torture from visiting Bahrain for years, despite multiple requests over the years.

Concluding its statement, Al-Wefaq called on the international community to take responsibility in this regard and to form an independent committee to investigate the torture issue and related violations.

Arabic Version