The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) calls on the United Nations and the international community to implement mechanisms of accountability for torture crimes on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, 26 June 2016. Despite efforts to bring an end to the practice of torture internationally, torture continues to be used as a tool of punishment and/or to extract confessions by numerous governments around the world.

Implementation of mechanisms of accountability on torture crimes continues to fall short, which enables local cultures of impunity. It is important to note that the effects and trauma of torture do not end when the survivor is released from prison, as there needs to be accountability for the torturers, and rehabilitation and compensation for the victims. This, unfortunately, is rarely the case.

On this day, GCHR stands in solidarity with human rights defenders who are survivors of torture, because they dedicated their lives to promoting and defending human rights in their countries and beyond. The cases highlighted in this report do not cover all cases of human rights defenders in those countries who have been subjected to torture, but provide a small sample of those GCHR has documented.

Bahrain:

Naji Fateel: A human rights defender with the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, Naji Fateel was arrested in 2013. Some of the torture Fateel described included being hung from the ceiling from his wrists while being hit with tasers, kicked and verbally abused. In 2015, during a prison riot, Fateel was severely beaten and moved to what was known as the “torture building.” He was later seen with a broken nose and unable to walk without support. Fateel is currently serving a combined 30-year sentence.

Hussain Jawad Parweez: Head of the European-Bahraini Organisation for Human Rights, Hussain Jawad Parweez was arrested during a house raid in February 2015. To force him to sign confessions, he was deprived of sleep and water, subjected to extreme low temperatures, forced to stand for long hours, beaten, sexually harassed and stripped naked. Parweez was released and left Bahrain.

Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace: A blogger and a university professor, Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, who suffers from poliomyelitis, was arrested in March 2011. He was subjected to severe beatings, sexual torture and forced standing for long periods. He is currently serving a life sentence.

Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja: An internationally known human rights defender and founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and GCHR, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was arrested in April 2011. He was subjected to severe physical, psychological and sexual torture. During his incommunicado detention which lasted two months, Al-Khawaja was severely beaten, had his jaw broken, was told his daughter had been arrested and raped, was forced to listen to other prisoners being tortured, forced to stand for long periods with arms raised, beaten on the back of the head with a heavy tool, beaten on the hands with a door lock, forcefully stripped, sodomized using sticks, forced to self-curse, and forced to make declarations of loyalty to political leadership under threats of beatings and rape. Al-Khawaja had to have an operation to fix the fractures in his jaw, which required 18 plates and 40 screws. He is currently serving a life sentence.

Iran:

Mahdieh Golrou: A women and student’s rights activist, Mahdieh Golrou was arrested on 24 October 2014 during a raid on her home after she participated in protests against acid attacks on women in Iran. She was placed in solitary confinement for 40 days, which according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, amounts to torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The Special Rapporteur in his thematic report found that individuals subjected to more than 15 days of solitary confinement may suffer irreversible consequences. Golrou was later released on bail.

Arash Sadeghi: Human rights defender and student activist, Arash Sadeghi was arrested on 6 September 2014 from his workplace in Tehran. Sadeghi has been subjected to multiple arrests since 2009, and repeatedly mistreated and tortured; including being held incommunicado for long periods of time. After his release from a previous imprisonment, Sadeghi spoke about how he was subjected to different types of torture, such as being hung from the ceiling by one leg and being suspended for five hours at a time. He was also so severely beaten that his shoulder was dislocated twice, and his teeth were broken. Sadeghi said he was forced to lick a soiled toilet bowl, and that interrogators kicked and punched him in the face while he was blindfolded, harming his eyes and causing temporary loss of vision. Sadeghi was later released on bail.

Iraq:

Ali Hussain Aboud: Head of the Al-Rafidan Association for Human Rights, Ali Hussain Aboud was arrested in May 2014 by the judicial police in the city of Najaf. He was detained incommunicado for over a month, with no access to his family or lawyer. He was later released without charge.

Kuwait:

Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli: He is a is a prominent Bedoon rights activist, on 14 June 2016, Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli was returning in handcuffs from a hearing held by the Court of Cassation on his way to the central prison in Kuwait, when he was subjected to beatings at the hands of three policemen, leaving him with a bruise and a visible injury on his forehead. Al-Fadhli is still in prison serving a three-month prison sentence issued on 23 February 2016 on a charge of misuse of the phone related to his participation in a peaceful demonstration on 02 October 2013. Reports have indicated that it is expected that Al-Fadhli will be released on 01 August 2016 after serving his three-month sentence in the second case.  

Oman:

Hassan Al-Basham: Online activist Hassan Al-Basham was arrested in September 2015 by the Internal Security Service. Al-Basham was reportedly tied to a chair every day during his detention and deprived of sleep. He was later released from prison after suffering partial paralysis in his face. On 13 June 2016, the Court of Appeal in Sohar upheld the three-year prison sentence against him, which is related to his human rights activities. A fine related to the charge of “insulting the Sultan” was overturned, according to reports received by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR). Al-Basham was reportedly already in custody and unconfirmed reports said that he was transferred to the central prison in the Samail province to serve the sentence. He had been arrested on 03 May 2016 after the publication of some of his writings on Facebook and was being held in Liwa Province police station.

Hilal Al-Alawi: Online activist and blogger Hilal Al-Alawi was arrested several times and held incommunicado for long periods. The most recent arrest was in February 2016, and he remains in prison.

Saudi Arabia:

Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Hamid and Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Khodr: Members of the Association for Civil and Political Rights, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Hamid and Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Khodr were arrested in 2015 and subjected to solitary confinement and incommunicado detention. They are currently serving ten-year prison sentences.

Mohammed Al-Bajadi: Co-founder of the Association for Civil and Political Rights and the host of an online forum titled “The citizen and his rights”, Mohammed Al-Bajadi was most recently detained in 2011 after communicating with the UN about the case of Sultan Al-Daees. Al-Daees is suspected to have been killed under torture in Saudi prisons. Al-Bajadi was held in solitary confinement for four months and denied access to his lawyer. On 29 November 2015, he was transferred to Prince Mohammed bin Nayef Center for counseling.

Issa Al-Marzog Al-Nukhaifi: A community social activist, Issa Al-Marzog Al-Nukhaifi was arrested and reportedly subjected to torture and solitary confinement after starting a hunger strike to demand justice. He was freed in April 2016 after three years and eight months in prison.

Mikhlif Al-Shammari: Human rights defender Mikhlif Al-Shammari was sentenced to 200 lashes and two years in prison in 2014 for online postings promoting peace and mutual understanding between the various communities.

Raif Badawi: Co-founder and editor of the website Liberal Saudi Network, Raif Badawi was arrested and sentenced to 1000 lashes, as well as 10 years in prison and a 10-year travel ban after his prison sentence. In January 2015, 50 of the lashes were carried, and he is currently serving the 10-year sentence.

Syria:

Bassel Khartabil: Software developer and free speech activist Bassel Khartabil was arrested on 15 March 2012 by the military intelligence. He was detained incommunicado for eight months during which he was reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Khartabil continues to be detained incommunicado by the Syrian government.

Shiyar Khalil: A journalist and human rights defender, Shiyar Khalil was arrested and tortured by the Syrian authorities. The torture he suffered included severe beatings with a long green hose, being suspended from his wrists, and solitary confinement. Khalil was later released from prison in June 2015, and left Syria.

Hussein Gharir: A journalist who worked for the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, Hussein Gharir was arrested in February 2012 with his colleagues from the SCM office. Gharir said he was subjected to various types of torture in different state detention centres, including what was called “black nights”, during which he was not allowed to sleep for days in a row. Gharir was later released in 2015 with two of his colleagues and left Syria.

Feras Swaiha: A photographer and protester, Feras Swaiha was documenting human rights violations. He was first arrested and tortured by the Syrian authorities in 2012, and later by ISIS in 2014. During his imprisonment by ISIS, Swaiha was subjected to, amongst other types of torture, threats that he would be killed with a gun to his head and lashing. He was suspended from his wrists on and off for three days, and severely beaten with a long green pipe which damaged his shoulder causing his arm to constantly shake. Swaiha was later released and left Syria.

Mohammad Khoder: A journalist who documented violations in Syria, Mohammad Khoder was severely tortured by the Syrian authorities. Khoder described how he would be beaten with water pipes until he would go numb, after which they would electrocute him in the genital area to remove the numbness. He was later released and left Syria in 2015.

Mahmoud Al-Taweel: A humanitarian worker, Mahmoud Al-Taweel was arrested by the Syrian authorities and severely tortured in 2011. Al-Taweel described being tortured continuously, several times a day. When he first arrived at the prison, he was brought into what was called the “welcome area,” during which they had their hands and legs tied, were hosed down with water then severely beaten. Al-Taweel was later released and left Syria.

Akram Raslan: A cartoonist who used his skills to highlight abuses in Syria, Akram Raslan was arrested in October 2012 by the Syrian government. It took three years for information to get out that Raslan had been killed under torture a few months after his arrest.

United Arab Emirates:

Members of the UAE 94: The UAE 94 are a group of 94 human rights defenders and activists who were arrested in 2012. Among the UAE 94, at least 41 detainees, on separate occasions, stated that they were deprived of sleep for significant periods of time. The sleep deprivation caused major health problems, including compromised and failed immune systems, decreased white blood cell and antibody counts, significant weight loss, profound muscular weakness, and elevated blood pressure.

One detainee, Ibrahim Al-Marzooqi, described being subject to repeated physical assaults. During his detention, Al-Marzooqi was slapped by a prison official, forced to stand under an air conditioning unit for four hours, beaten with a waterspout, jabbed with a nail, and made to stand for hours at end despite intense back pain.

Another detainee, Dr. Ahmed Yousef Abdullah Buatabh Al-Zaabi reported being beaten to the point he was left swollen, covered in bruises all over his body and with large amounts of blood in his urine. On one occasion, his fingernails were systematically pulled out. Another detainee, Mohammed Ali Saleh Al-Mansoori had his shoulder dislocated during an attack by a guard.

As a result of repeated physical assaults, Essa Al-Sari lost excessive amounts of weight, suffered chapped lips, severe dehydration which prevented him from opening his mouth, and exhibited symptoms of strabismus. Al-Sari was locked in the trunk of a car while petrol was leaked into the air vents. After being confined to the car for nearly thirty minutes, Al-Sari struggled to breathe and almost choked to death. Musabeh Al-Rumaithi was also forced to remain in the trunk of a car, blindfolded and handcuffed for an hour and thirty minutes.

At least 24 detainees say they were subjected to practices which caused severe pain in order to obtain confessions from them. Ahmed Ghaith Al-Suwaidi, for example, stated that he was “horrendously and viciously tortured” by various state personnel until he confessed to crimes that he did not commit. Numerous detainees stated that they were placed in solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time between 16 July 2012 and 10 March 2013. Many of the UAE 94 continue to be imprisoned.

In solidarity with survivors of torture, GCHR reiterates its call for an end to the practice of torture, and for improved mechanisms of accountability for crimes of torture. GCHR also calls for the release of human rights defenders who are torture survivors and continue to be imprisoned, and for them to receive the rehabilitation, treatment and compensation they are entitled to.