Amnesty International: URGENT ACTION: Prisoner describes torture to co
 

07-04-12 06:50 PM

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06 April 2012
Former president of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association (BTA) Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb has provided a detailed account in court of his torture and other ill-treatment. Amnesty International is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb’s, appeal hearing resumed on 2 April 2012. They are the former vice-president and president of the BTA. Two previous hearings had taken place on 9 January and 19 February 2012. During the 2 April hearing, Mahdi Isa Mahdi Adu Dheeb told the court for the first time since his trial started how he had been tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Methods included beatings while he was suspended from his arms and legs, tied behind his back. He told the court that he had been tortured in different locations, including Gurein prison, during the several weeks he spent in solitary confinement. He also said he was beaten by a nurse inside the ambulance that was taking him to Salmaniya Medical complex to be treated for injuries caused by the torture that happened at the beginning of his detention last year.
In previous sessions Mahdi Isa Mahdi Adu Dheeb had been referred for examination by a forensic medical body made up of staff members of Gulf University, Ministry of Health and a forensic doctor from the Public Prosecution. His lawyer challenged the impartiality of this body but the judge rejected the complaint. However, the people that should form this body have not been appointed yet and Mahdi Isa Mahdi Adu Dheeb’s examination has not yet taken place. His lawyer asked the judge to release him on bail but this request was rejected and the trial has been postponed until 2 May.
Amnesty International believes that neither Mahdi Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb nor Jalila al Salman used or advocated violence during the protests of February and March 2011 and the Bahraini authorities have presented no such evidence during the trial. Amnesty International considers Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb to be prisoners of conscience held solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
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