Testimony: Military personnel in Bahrain: killed, discharged from serv

محروم.كوم · #1 01-14-2012, 07:10 PM

14-01-12 05:12 PM

14 Jan 2012

Last July, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights documented more than 248 violations affecting personnel in military services within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Department of Defence, the two entities that are headed by members of the Bahraini Royal Family. Until this day those violations are ongoing. Bahraini authorities have killed, arrested, and discharged hundreds of military personnel, many of whom while currently released, are awaiting appeals courts that may send them back to imprisonment. This is a testimony from a military officer, who was arrested previously, describing some of the violations that military personnel have endured.

Below is the speech that was read on 28 December 2011 on behalf of military personnel in a solidarity stand at Al Wefaq National Islamic Society. It was written by Abdullah Abu Idrees, a military officer who was detained for months, and read by the brother of Ali Al Ghanmi, another military officer who is currently detained:

May peace be upon you,

I would like to begin by thanking Al Wefaq National Islamic Society for its stance in solidarity with military personnel. This is a true reflection of its stance towards the rest of society be it civilian or military.

I am not here to speak of an incident that affected me personally as my speech will be on behalf of all the honourable military personnel who refused to stain their hands with the blood of innocents. We are a special layer (of society) and differ from our civilian brothers. A doctor will conduct his duties in line with his profession’s requirements of humaneness and so does a teacher and staff in all sectors without expecting to be arrested, tortured, discharged, or even trialled.

I am not here to exaggerate or belittle their contributions, but to bring to light things many have been neglected in the minds of many people. As military personnel, we knew that our position was a dangerous one from the onset. We understood that refusing to obey military instructions would have dire consequences for us and our futures, yet we stood by our brothers in their demands for justice and refused to point our triggers at them. We carried the pain of our nation with them and shared their concerns.

Officer Ali Al-Ghanmi was the first to join the revolutionaries by announcing his allegiance to them in Al Salmaniya Hospital. He knew the consequences of his actions, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He joined the blessed revolution so that freedom may encompass this nation, and so that it would sit in the shade of democracy and justice. His punishment was arrest, abuse, and all kinds of torture.

Officer Sayyid Qasim Marzooq is a sniper who had won many trophies in sniping competitions. He refused to contribute to the shedding of innocent blood regardless of the costly consequences he faced.

We are beaming with pride that we contributed two martyrs at the onset of our blessed revolution: Officers Jawad Al-Shamlan and Aziz Ayyad may their souls rest in peace.

Soon after, we faced a barrage of punishment, arrest, and dismissal from our jobs. Some of us are still imprisoned while we all await trials. We have been treated badly, unfairly, and inhumanely. We have suffered like many others in prisons and now we are suffering from winding appeals sessions and arbitrary judgements, some of which have been outstanding for almost 10 years.

Abdul Mon’im Mansour

From this pulpit and on behalf all the honourable military officers, I ask that our case be promoted and regarded with interest and hope that our society would share with us the hope that we have and the state of anticipation that we are in.
Dear friends, talk about us and familiarise our case to the world and tell them that we have suffered all kinds of torture because some of us have carried the body of a martyr on their shoulders and witnessed a horrible and despicable crime that shakes human conscience. This happened when officer Abdul Mon’im Mansour witnessed the body of the martyr Ahmed Farhan. As a punishment for his action, he was imprisoned, tortured, discharged, and separated from his family and loved ones. To this day, he remains behind prison cells while all he needs is someone to take his hand and dry his tears that are falling as a result of the horrible scene that he witnessed. Can any of you put themselves in his position and carry the body of a dead person whose head had burst open like that of martyr Ahmed Farhan? May God look after you Mon’im. We pray to God that you are released from imprisonment.

Tell the world that we are innocent and that the accusations that have been directed at us are fabricated. Ask international and rights organisations to defend us and care about our case.

I did not wish to talk about myself but I am one of the military officers that were arrested and discharged. I will not hide from you what the arrestees face in those cells. I have been dismissed from my work and a verdict has been issued in my case to be imprisoned for four years. You may understand what this means to a young person in his life who is still building aspirations for his future. I have become unemployed with no foreseeable job. I wait with anxiousness what will become of me and what verdicts will be issued by appeals courts. I cannot describe how I feel when I sit at home without a job not knowing what awaits me. I count empty minutes and hours and cannot stand some of my thoughts. I cannot stand thinking about my mother: how will she cope being separated from her son for four years? What pain and suffering awaits her? I think to myself how old will I be? How will I start again? And what job will I have? All these thoughts crowd my mind but when I think that all of this is for the freedom of my country, I become at ease with myself and my heart brightens with hope.

Finally, I pray to God to dispel the clouds of adversity from our precious Bahrain and bless our glorious revolution. I pray that He bestows mercy upon our righteous martyrs and frees our prisoners.

May God’s mercy and blessings be upon you all.
My kind regards
@aabuidrees

More information about the case of military officers in Bahrain

Video of a number of arrested military officers and their charges

Bahrain Centre’s Report: The ruling regime targets the minority of Shi’a workers in policy and army with killing, torture, and imprisonment as part of ethnic cleansing of these establishments

Report from Human Rights First: In Praise of a Bahraini Police Officer

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