Bahrain: Man dies under Torture at the Hands of Criminal Investigation Directorate

Man dies under Torture at the Hands of Criminal Investigation Directorate

On 31 July 2016, just four weeks after his initial arrest by forces of the Ministry of Interior, Hassan Al Hayeki, a 35-year-old Bahraini citizen, died from the injuries he sustained from his prolonged subjection to torture at the hands of interrogators of the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) in Manama. On 11 August 2016, Alkarama raised his case to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (SR SUMEX).

Al Hayeki was arrested on 4 July 2016 and interrogated at the CID, where he was initially beaten and hung by the limbs for four days, after which he was brought before the Public Prosecutor who asked him to confess to having committed a bomb attack in the village of Al Aker, south of Manama, that left a woman dead in late June 2016. After refusing to confess and informing the Prosecutor of the treatment he had received, Al Hayeki was taken back to CID and subjected to further acts of torture. He was repeatedly beaten on his head and genitals. Al Hayeki eventually confessed to the charges on 22 July 2016. He was then transferred to the Dry Dock detention centre, known to be overcrowded and unsanitary.

During his last and third phone call to his family on 30 July 2016, Al Hayeki's words were incomprehensible and his sentences incoherent. The next day, despite complaining of severe chest pain and numbing of the left arm, the guards refused to take him to the prison doctor. His co-detainees at the Dry Dock detention centre pleaded with the guards for an hour before he was finally taken to the doctor. The latter ordered that Al Hayeki be immediately transferred to a hospital but the 35 year old arrived dead and hospital staff was unable to reanimate him. Upon the request of the family, an autopsy was ordered but was performed by a non-independent governmental doctor, who concluded that there were "no signs of torture on his body".

Alkarama has therefore appealed to the Special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, to urge the Bahraini authorities to open an independent investigation into the death of Hassan Al Hayeki and to offer reparation to his family. Alkarama further recalls that Bahrain is a state party to the Convention against Torture since 1998 and as such should enforce the absolute prohibition of torture.

For more information, please contact media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).