Husain Ali Matar was an 18-year-old Bahraini citizen when he was arrested for the final time on 30 October 2022 without a warrant. He was previously arrested on 28 June 2020 when he was a 16-year-old minor student in his second year of middle school and was sentenced to three years in prison following an unfair trial. He was then released on 6 May 2022 under alternative sanctions. During both detentions, he was subjected to physical and psychological torture, enforced disappearance, communication cutoffs, forced confessions, unfair trials, deprivation of prayer, blackmail, and medical neglect. On 20 June 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted an opinion concerning six Bahraini students, including Husain, who deemed their detention as arbitrary. The Working Group called for the immediate and urgent release of all six prisoners and for an impartial investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable. He was sentenced to three years in prison, half of which he served before being released on 15 April 2024 under alternative sanctions issued on 9 April 2024, which included 210 convicts.
On the evening of 29 October 2022, Husain’s father was summoned to the Khamees Police Station. When he went to the station on the morning of 30 October, he was detained. The police officers demanded that the father hand over Husain, threatening to hold him hostage otherwise. Consequently, Husain surrendered himself on the evening of the same day, 30 November 2022. He was accused of participating in burning part of a tent that was serving as a center for a candidate in the parliamentary elections on 29 October 2022. Husain was interrogated at the police station for three days without a lawyer present and was prevented from sleeping and praying. Plainclothes officers beat him, gave him only one meal during the day, and did not allow him to use the toilet when needed. As a result of the beatings he endured, he is now experiencing severe vision weakness. He then forcibly disappeared, and his family was cut off from any news about him. Three weeks after his arrest, Husain managed to call his family for the first time since his arrest, informing them that he was in the isolation building of the new Dry Dock Prison, designed for convicts under the age of 21. On 5 November 2022, he was brought before the Public Prosecution Office (PPO), which accused him of participating in burning part of the parliamentary election candidate’s tent.
Husain was arbitrarily arrested for the penultimate time on 28 June 2020, when he was a 16-year-old Bahraini minor student. He was subjected to torture, deprivation of communication, isolation, medical neglect, and ill-treatment, and was sentenced to three years in prison in an unfair trial. On 29 April 2022, the Bahraini government decided to release Husain among a group of 69 prisoners under alternative sanctions, most of whom were criminals, with few political prisoners. On 6 May 2022, Husain was released before being re-arrested on 30 October 2022, just less than six months later.
Since his last release on 6 May 2022 under alternative sanctions and up until his final arrest, Husain had been pursued in the streets by security forces and shot at, which led to constant concern for his life by his family. While implementing his alternative sanctions by working in social service, he faced numerous harassment by the responsible personnel. He was subjected to insults, and his social service locations were changed without prior notice, resulting in his absence being recorded. Although he also completed his work according to his old schedule, he was surprised to find his absence recorded for days when he was working, and violations were registered against him.
Husain was not brought promptly before a judge within 48 hours of his arrest, did not have adequate time and facilities to prepare for his trial, was not given any opportunity to present evidence and challenge evidence presented against him, and was not allowed to speak during his trial. On 15 January 2023, the First High Criminal Court sentenced Husain to 3 years in prison with a 3,000 Dinars fine for the destruction of the electoral tent through arson. On 12 May 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict and rejected Husain’s appeal. On 23 October 2023, the Cassation Court in turn rejected Husain’s appeal and upheld the judgment.
On 20 June 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted an opinion concerning six Bahraini students, including Husain, who deemed their detention as arbitrary. The Working Group called for the immediate and urgent release of all six prisoners and for an impartial investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable.
In January 2024, a year and two months after his final arrest, Husain’s parents were allowed to visit him for the first and only time since his arrest.
Husain had been isolated in a cell with Ali Isa Jasim since their transfer to the new Dry Dock Prison until the issuance of the alternative sanctions decree on 9 April 2024. They endured severe psychological pressure, systematic harassment, and deprivation of the most basic rights, including clothing, healthy meals, and education. On 3 March 2024, Husain’s mother indicated in an audio recording that her son had gone on a hunger strike along with his cellmate, Ali Isa Jasim, due to their isolation away from all other prisoners, and in solidarity with a colleague who was transferred to a ward containing foreign prisoners. On 5 March 2024, Husain’s cellmate, Ali, conveyed in an audio recording from the isolation cell, complaining about their deteriorating health condition after a hunger strike lasting more than 7 days and a significant drop in blood sugar levels. They have sent several letters to the prison administration and various officers. Consequently, Husain and his cellmate received repeated promises that they would be placed with other prisoners, yet to no avail.
On 9 April 2024, the General Directorate for the Implementation of Alternative Judgements and Sanctions and the PPO decided to replace the sentences of 210 convicts in Bahraini prisons with alternative sanctions. They also decided to release 47 convicts under the open prisons program. Husain was among the prisoners whose names were included in the alternative sanctions decree. On the same day, Husain was transferred from Jau Prison to the Roundabout 17 Police Station in preparation for his release. However, he was forced to remain at the police station due to another case against him. In detail, Husain received a new offer to work as an informant in exchange for completing his release procedures; however, he refused the offer. Despite his name being on the list of those to be released, authorities arbitrarily kept him in prison. When his family inquired about him outside the station, awaiting his release, the police informed them that there was another sentence issued against him in absentia for 3 years in prison, even though the decision issued by the General Directorate for the Implementation of Alternative Judgements and Sanctions and the PPO stated that the remaining period of imprisonment and fines imposed on all mentioned prisoners should be dropped.
On 15 April 2024, Husain was presented to the PPO, which ordered his release. On the same day, he was released without any further details or clarification provided.
Husain’s arbitrary arrests, including his penultimate one when he was a minor, torture, enforced disappearance, communication cutoffs, deprivation of prayer, denial of access to legal counsel during interrogations, restraints on his rights to education, denial of fair trial rights, medical neglect, blackmail, and isolation represent clear violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Bahrain is a party. The Bahraini authorities also violated the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules.
Thus, ADHRB calls on the Government of Bahrain to investigate the allegations of arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearance, communication cutoffs, deprivation of prayer, denial of access to legal counsel during interrogations, restrictions on his rights to education, medical neglect, blackmail, and isolation to hold perpetrators accountable. In addition, ADHRB urges the Bahraini government to end the isolation of all political prisoners, holding the government responsible for the deterioration of the psychological conditions of isolated detainees. While ADHRB welcomes the recent release of a large number of political prisoners, it considers this belated step insufficient if it is conditional. ADHRB considers this step insufficient unless investigations into the violations suffered by these released individuals are conducted, compensation is provided, perpetrators are held accountable, and political arrests and ongoing prison violations cease.
