On 28 March, ADHRB has delivered an oral intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 49 under item 8, during the General debate. ADHRB raises the systematic practice of torture at the Human Rights Council.
Mr. President,
AlSalam echoes the Vienna Declaration’s description of torture as one of the most atrocious violations against human dignity.
Unforunately, Bahraini authorities continue to adopt torture as systemic practice during interrogation. Prisoners have reported being subjected to beatings, electric shocks, sexual assault, and deprivation of sleep. Additionally, they would be insulted and threatened with harming their family members. Some prisoners refuse to disclose the details of their torture to their families, to spare them the emotional distress.
Under this physical and psychological torture, prisoners are forced to confess to the charges against them, while being threatened to be tortured further if they refuse to do so. Even though prisoners notified the judges presiding over their case of their mistreatment, their pleas have been ignored, while their torturers face no accountability.
In prisons, inmates are beaten, humiliated by shaving their heads, and held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods, in addition to being insulted, yelled at, and ridiculed for demanding their basic rights to receive medical treatment, contact their family, or freely practice their religion.
These violations are ongoing, despite Bahrain’s claims of reform. AlSalam urges the international community to take a stand against Bahrain’s gruesome human rights record and pressure it to hold torturers accountable for their crimes while taking real measures to combat the widespread use of torture in its prisons and detention centers.
Thank you.
