Canadian fears more tortures from officals in Bahrain

محروم.كوم · #1 10-28-2011, 02:20 AM

Note: I'll try to traslate this to Arabic and post it on the Arabic side enshallah!

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The Vancouver Sun
Canadian Fears More Torture from Officials in Bahrain

By Thandi Fletcher, Postmedia News

October 26, 2011

Read more:
http://www.canada.com/news/Canadian+...#ixzz1bz2Di9O4

Naser Al-Raas says he's fearfully awaiting the moment Bahrain police handcuff, blindfold and drag him back to a jail, where he contends, he'll ruthlessly be tortured for a crime he did not commit.

Al-Raas, a Kuwait-born Canadian citizen, was sentenced this week for breaking Bahrain's illegal-assembly laws. He and 12 others were sentenced for having links to antigovernment demonstrations.

Al-Raas, 28, is free pending an appeal, but could be arrested before the scheduled Nov. 22 court date. If so, he is certain he will be tortured again. Earlier this year, Al-Raas said he was kidnapped and beaten for a month in an underground prison.
"The main thing that was going through my head was 'How will I survive?' Al-Raas told Postmedia News on Wednesday, calling via Skype from Bahrain as he believes his phone lines likely are tapped. "I saw death many times."
On March 20, Al-Raas was leaving Bahrain after a three-week visit to check up on his five sisters and ensure they were safe amid the political unrest enveloping the tiny Persian Gulf country.

Pro-democracy protests that broke out in February amid the fervour of the Arab Spring were crushed by Bahraini security forces, backed by Saudi troops. The government says 24 people were killed, including four police officers, while the opposition puts the count at 31.

Al-Raas was returning to Kuwait where he worked as an IT specialist.
At Bahrain International Airport, four policemen in civilian clothes ambushed and forced him into a tiny office where he was beaten and held at gunpoint, Al-Raas recalled.

They blindfolded him, took him to an undisclosed location, and subjected him to a mock execution where bullets were repeatedly fired around him.

For a month, he was held hostage, taken to an underground prison cell where he endured the screams of others. He said he witnessed one man being tortured until he was dead.

When it was his turn, he said his torturers took him to a wooden room, blindfolded him, and tied him to a chair with ropes. They beat him with a rubber hose, kicked him with military boots, and electrocuted him. Sometimes they would spit into his mouth and force him to swallow, he said.

Other times, he would be forced to stand up for hours at a time without rest and was beaten when he tried to sleep, said Al-Raas.

"I could not sit, I could not sleep. Whenever I moved, I was beaten by many officers," said Al-Raas.

Often the blows were targeted at his chest, where he has scars from two open-heart surgeries.

Al-Raas has pulmonary hypertension, a heart and lung disease that requires careful medical attention and anti-clotting medication.

When he asked for his medicine, his requests were denied and the torture intensified, said Al-Raas.

A month after he was arrested, Al-Raas said he was forced to make an on-camera confession, threatened to not speak to the media and told not to tell anybody about the torture. Then finally, he was released.

Once free, Al-Raas pleaded to have his Canadian passport, which was seized during his arrest, returned. On June 7, when security officials told him he could come get his passport, he was arrested and beaten again, and charged with kidnapping a Bahraini police officer.

He denied the accusations and was taken to military court earlier this month, where he was acquitted of all charges.

But on Tuesday, he was found guilty in civilian court on other charges, for participating in protests and publicly inciting hatred and contempt against the regime.

Amnesty International is now urging Canada's federal government to pressure Bahraini authorities to drop the charges against Al-Raas, who they said is being held as a prisoner of conscience.

"In our view, there is absolutely no reasonable basis for the charges," said Alex Neve, secretary general for Amnesty International in Ottawa. "Now that the conviction has happened, it's vitally important that the Canadian government bring considerable pressure to bear on Bahraini authorities to drop the charges and for the verdict and sentence to be quashed."

On Wednesday, John Babcock, spokesman for Diane Ablonczy, the minister of state for foreign affairs, said Canadian consular officials in Ottawa and in Riyadh are providing consular assistance to Al-Raas and his family in Canada.

Al-Raas has lived on and off in Ottawa since 1996.

"Although the government of Canada cannot interfere in the judicial affairs of another country, we have made high level representations to Bahraini authorities to seek assurances that the individual is afforded due process and to ensure his well-being," Babcock said.

Babcock added the Canadian government is aware and concerned of reports that Al-Raas was mistreated while in detention in Bahrain, and has raised its concerns with the "appropriate authorities."

Although he has appealed the decision, Al-Raas said he has been advised to surrender himself to Bahraini authorities within 10 days.

For now, he is enjoying spending time with his fiancee Zainab, waiting in fear for the unpredictable moment Bahraini police may storm his home.

Since his arrest, Zainab has worked tirelessly to contact international human rights groups for help.

"Naser can't go there again," said Zainab, her voice thick with emotion. "(The police) are animals. They are not even human."

[email protected]

Twitter.com/thandi_fletcher

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أدوات الموضوع
مشاهدة صفحة طباعة الموضوع أرسل هذا الموضوع إلى صديق
انواع عرض الموضوع
العرض العادي الانتقال إلى العرض المتطور الانتقال إلى العرض الشجري

المواضيع المتشابهه
الموضوع	كاتب الموضوع	المنتدى	مشاركات	آخر مشاركة
Canadian fears more torture from officials in Bahrain - The Vancouver	محروم.كوم	منتدى أخبار المواقع والمنتديات العربية والأجنبية	0	10-27-2011 10:10 AM
Canadian fears more torture from officials in Bahrain - The Vancouver	محروم.كوم	منتدى أخبار المواقع والمنتديات العربية والأجنبية	0	10-27-2011 06:16 AM
Canadian fears more torture from officials in Bahrain - The Vancouver	محروم.كوم	منتدى أخبار المواقع والمنتديات العربية والأجنبية	0	10-27-2011 06:16 AM
Canadian fears more torture from officials in Bahrain - Vancouver Sun	محروم.كوم	منتدى أخبار المواقع والمنتديات العربية والأجنبية	0	10-27-2011 06:16 AM
Jailings stir fears over Bahrain justice - Financial Times	محروم.كوم	منتدى أخبار المواقع والمنتديات العربية والأجنبية	0	10-01-2011 02:10 PM