Bahrain’s October 2013: more than 1253 violations

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Liberties and Human Rights Unit in Al Wefaq National Islamic Society has documented more than 1253 violations perpetrated by the Bahraini Authority, through its security and military forces, in October 2013.The number of total arrests in October reached 151, 142 of which were men and of which were children*. Most arrests took place during home raids and which summed up to 79, while arrests from streets reached 39.102 detainees were released during October, however, only 31 of whom were of the 151 arrested in the same month.As to the home raids carried out by security forces, the Unit has documented around 146 cases, mostly in areas of routine protests. In all cases, and according to the households, the security forces failed to show legal warrants or judicial permission to conduct the raids. Households also mentioned that security forces raided bedrooms while women were in sleep gowns or without head cover.The Unit had also documented 22 cases of vandalism of private property by the security forces, in some cases, during home raids. This included throwing teargas canisters inside homes causing damage to furniture and floors as well as smashing car windows by deliberately running into cars or by random shooting during crackdown on protests.The Unit documented two special cases where households were subjected to arrests and mistreatment by the security forces during home raids:Case no. 1: according to the family, the policemen raided the house by climbing the wall-fence and headed to the first floor. When the father tried to stop them from entering bedrooms because women were without cover, he was kicked and beaten by the policemen. In the meanwhile, a member of the family was arrested and led outside hooded with a black plastic bag. The police forces also arrested the father, but when his wife tried to stop them, they sprayed pepper-spray at her face and beat her husband again.Case no. 2: according to the family, a number of policemen raided the house through a window while others broke open the door. The policemen then headed straight to a flat upstairs. The flat was searched and the girls’ bedroom was raided while they were without head cover too. After that, the policemen arrested one of the family members and led him outside hooded with his shirt.It is worth mentioning here that the security forces had raided the offices of Al Wefaq National Islamic Society in Qufool on 30th October 2013. The forces had also arbitrarily prevented senior members of the Society and its lawyer from entering the building or even talking to the member of Public Prosecution Office who was supervising the raid. They also prevented those who were inside the building from communicating with the outside. The reason behind the raid was the Revolution Museum artistic exhibition that was an inspiration of the violations documented in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report. The exhibition displayed belongings of martyrs and artifacts showing the violations perpetrated by the police. All belongings of the museum as well as documents, computers and portable hard disks were confiscated in the raid.As to torture and cruel treatment, 21 cases have been documented during the month of October. Most cases included severe beating during crackdowns on protests or during arrests. Among those were two special cases:Case no. 1: according to the victim, who is 17 years of age; he was arrested last September from the street during a protest in a village in the Northern Governorate. He was severely assaulted during his arrest. However, during his detention, he was subjected to cruel and humiliating torture. He was beaten with batons and hoses by a group of torturers at the same time.Case no. 2: according to the victim’s family, policemen stopped their 17 year old son while patrolling a neighborhood. The police severely assaulted the teen causing him a hand fracture and injuries in different parts of his body. There were no protests in the area at the time.Moving to the sporadic protests and the security forces’ collective punishment on residential areas; 410 demonstrations took place in most areas across Bahrain during the month of October. The security forces confronted the demonstrations with excessive force (shotguns) and rained residential areas with teargas. The number of protests that were attacked during the month summed up to at least 181. In the attacks, around 69 people were injured either with fire arms (shotgun) or the use of C4 gas canisters as direct ammunition.Finally, the Unit has documented 6 cases of violations of religious freedom in October. In 2 cases, places of worship were attacked with teargas canisters, one was a mosque and the other was holding a religious event for women. One other place of worship was randomly raided. One Islamic speaker was summoned for interrogation for his religious lecture. The security forces also removed manifestations of Ashura in the village of Nuwaidrat and raided a mosque in Sitra. Eyewitnesses said civilian masked men backed with the police forces had raided the Sheik Mo’men Mosque besides many houses. The forces stole sums of money and donation boxes that belonged to the mosque. They also ripped pictures of clerics that were hanged in the mosque and defiled the carpets of the mosque.The Liberties and Human Rights UnitAl Wefaq National Islamic Society—————–*The United Nations considers every person under the age of 18 a child.