(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The following is the text of the article: "Al-Khalifa security forces poured down beatings on the female poet “Ayat Al-Qarmazi” using electrical cables and forced her to clean toilets with her hands.” These words were stated by her family yesterday in a graphic review of the torture and humiliation acts suffered by the detainees as a result of repressive measures in the Gulf state against the opposition.
The masked police had arrested “Ayat” from her home on the 30th of March because she had recited poems that criticized the kingdom’s monarchy during the pro-democracy march in the capital Manama in February (February). Her family was able to talk to her over the phone while in prison, but they knew about the abusive treatment and torture when she spoke during her appearance in court earlier this month. In a telephone interview from Bahrain with "The Independent" newspaper yesterday, her mother “Sa`ada Hasan Ahmad” relayed what “Ayat” had told her in terms of what happened to her after her arrest.
The details of the investigation and imprisonment is no different than what was faced by other women detained by the Bahraini security forces since their launch of full repression tactics on the 15th March against all pro-democratic reformers in the island Kingdom.
Ayat had surrendered to police after they threatened to kill her two brothers. She was transported in a car with two of the security forces - a man and a woman - who were masked and dressed in civilian clothing. They started to hit her on the spot and threatened her by saying she would be raped and that disturbing and offensive images of her will be published on the Internet. She told her mother: "When I got to the interrogation center in Manama, I was admitted to a very small cell, which I remained in for nine days.”
The beatings by the electrics cables caused the swelling of her lips. "Ayat thought that the air-conditioning in the cell was emitting some kind of gas, making her feel as if she is suffocating.” The police did not attempt throughout this period to pursue any investigation with her. Her family said that the days that followed the arrest of Ayat were full of psychological torment.
Her brother, Yousef Mohammed said: "We did not know anything about what happened to her, and we heard rumors that she was raped or killed." Her mother visited the police stations one after another, asking for news about her daughter, but to no avail. Police said that she must register her daughter’s name among the missing, but she complained that it does not offer any benefit since the police are the ones that detained her daughter. In a malicious development, images of Ayat were posted on dating and pornographic sites. Most probably this is linked to the threats issued by the police when they arrested her for the first time that offensive images of her will appear on the Internet.
After nine days, Ayat was transferred to the “Issa” prison, and after 15 days of her arrest she was allowed to contact her family by phone to tell them that she is still alive. Although the physical torture stopped, but she remained exposed to psychological pressures. Her mother said: "She was sometimes forced to sign papers while blindfolded not knowing what they contained."
She was ordered to clean the cells and the corridors in the building that was in, but she was not allowed to talk to other prisoners. She was transferred more than once to the investigation center where she was held in the first place and a video of her was shot where she announced her name and said she is one of the Shiites and she hates Sunnis. It is known that the majority of the population in Bahrain is Shiites and the Al Khalifa royal family is Sunni.
The government has tried to show the demands of democratic reform as a conspiracy hatched against the Sunnis by Iran. Her mother was asked about any other detail relevant to the investigation with Ayat in the “Issa” prison, so she said she he had no knowledge of that because she had not been given sufficient time to talk to her when they met in court. They were told the previous day that they have to appoint a lawyer, although it was unclear how much freedom the lawyer can have in regards to talking with his client.
As Ayat was meeting with her family in the courtroom, a police officer eavesdropped on her talking about the details of ill-treatment. He said if she continued, she will be returned to the investigation center where she will be tortured again.
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