Our organisations write to urge you to reiterate Bahrain’s obligations under the Convention Against Torture («the Convention») and give immediate attention to:
As documented by our organisations, torture is a
constant presence in Bahrain’s judicial system, used systematically to coerce confessions
during pre-trial interrogations and threaten and punish detainees whilst they
are imprisoned in detention facilities. The Bahraini government has launched an
intensified crackdown on civil society in the past year, and in January it
broke a seven-year executions
moratorium by executing three torture victims, all of whom were convicted based
on confessions they claimed
were extracted through torture.
Moreover, the Bahraini human rights institutions purportedly tasked with carrying out independent and Istanbul Protocol-compliant investigations of torture complaints have instead done the opposite, acting to cover up torture allegations and refusing to investigate them. This continues to exacerbate the near-total impunity afforded to members of Bahraini security forces accused of torture. Compounding this culture of impunity is the refusal of Bahrain’s European allies, some of whom have invested millions in the training of these human rights institutions, to acknowledge that such technical assistance and international support should be made conditional upon demonstrable improvements in torture accountability—such as ratifying OPCAT and allowing a visit by the Special Rapporteur on torture.
These developments demonstrate how important it is for the Committee to urge Bahrain to acknowledge and address the country’s abysmal record on torture. Specifically, we ask that you urge the Bahraini government to:[1] see Urgent: Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in need of
urgent access to medical care to prevent lasting vision loss ; http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/8615
[2] Bahrain: Further Information: Growing Health
Concerns for Prominent Activist: Nabeel Rajab http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/8636
Tweet |
English