On Monday 17 September, at the 39th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, ADHRB’s Legal Officer delivered an additional oral intervention during the Agenda Item 3 General Debate. In the intervention, ADHRB presented a letter received from an arbitrarily detained prisoner in Bahrain’s Isa Town Women’s Prison, detailing ill treatment and poor conditions. Continue reading for the text of the intervention or click here for a PDF of the remarks.
Mr. Vice President,
ADHRB would like to read a portion of a letter we recently received from a Bahraini woman arbitrarily detained in the Isa Town Women Prison.
“I am the detainee Madina Ali Ahmed, a 28 year old mother of a 6-year-old boy. On the morning of May 29th 2017, at 8 AM, I was pulled out of my car in the middle of the street by masked men in a civilian car. They threatened me with guns and death threats.
I was then transported to the headquarters of the infamous torture center, where abuses frequently take place after arrests. I was blindfolded with cloth so that I could not identify those who tortured me.
I was subjected to torture and verbal abuse. I was beaten and I have bruises on the front of my head to this day. I was not allowed to be seen by a doctor for my injuries.
I was sentenced to 3 years in prison in an unfair trial, where I was not allowed to prove that I had been subjected to torture in order to provide a confession that had no basis in truth.
It has been a year and four months I have been away from my child and my family, and have been denied my basic rights inside Isa Prison – suffering from violations even after my unfair trial and detainment.”
We condemn Bahrain’s ongoing abuse of Madina Ali Ahmed and call for the release of all arbitrarily detained persons in Bahrain who have been subjected to torture and due process violations.
Thank you.
