The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights: Deprivation of treatment is a typical form of torture in Bahraini prisons. Both the National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR) and the Ombudsman are accomplices in covering up torture.

The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) stated that it has monitored, during the last period, dozens of complaints by detainees, due to the violation of their right to receive appropriate and necessary medical treatment, especially in Jaw Central Prison. That is because severe deprivation of treatment has become one of the typical forms of torture in Bahrain as a result of deteriorating prison conditions and the lack of legal accountability of those involved in violations.

The BFHR also highlighted to the fact that: "instead of cooperating in effective initiatives for the betterment of the detainees' health conditions, especially those suffering from chronic or incurable diseases such as cancer, Bahrain's Ministry of Interior is doing its utmost to assist some institutions, mainly the Ombudsman and the National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR), in denying those violations".

The BFHR pointed out that any inmate has the right to free-of-charge necessary treatment when needed, and that if it is not available in the prison clinic, inmates have the right to be transferred to public hospitals. The deteriorating conditions in Bahrain’s prisons have led some of those deprived of treatment to extract their teeth by themselves and with the help of their cellmates, as stated by the BFHR, and when the victims are asked why they did it, they answer that they have no other solution due to severe pain.

The BFHR recalled torture victim, Muhammad Sahwan, who died on March 16, 2017, as a result of the deprivation of care for injuries in his back, legs, and head from the internationally-banned birdshot pellets of a shotgun, due to the use of excessive force by security members on April 17, 2011. The victim had not received appropriate and necessary treatment for 80 shrapnel in his head, during the period of his arbitrary detention, even though he requested treatment multiple times from the prison administration and the Public Prosecution, but they refused, the BFHR noted, adding that his case was one of the unforgettable cases of severe deprivation of treatment.

The BFHR emphasized that the prevalence of various forms of ill-treatment in prisons and detention centers confirms Bahrain's failure to commit to its international obligations to put in place the necessary measures to prevent torture and abuses, stipulated by international and local laws. It also stressed that the policy of impunity and the absence of judicial supervision of places of detention make those practices prevalent in Bahrain's prisons, many of which take place during or before an interrogation to pressure detainees to claim confessions against themselves or their cellmates, to be later used in the prosecutions, in clear violation of the defendant's right to remain silent and not to be forced to testify or plead guilty.

The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights
January 18, 2020