25 November Excellency,

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1 HAUT-COMMISSARIAT AUX DROITS DE L HOMME OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PALAIS DES NATIONS 1211 GENEVA 10, SWITZERLAND TEL: / FAX: registry@ohchr.org Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment REFERENCE: AL BHR 8/2015: Excellency, 25 November 2015 We have the honour to address you in our capacities as Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 24/6 and 25/13. In this connection, we would like to bring to the attention of your Excellency s Government information we have received concerning the detention conditions in Jaw Prison in Bahrain, among them inadequate or no access to medical care, as well as torture and ill-treatment suffered during and following the crackdown of a prison protest, and the absence of any investigation into these allegations. Previous communications in relation to the Jah Prison were issued on 15 April 2015 (ref: BHR 2/2015) and on 13 May 2015 (BHR 3/2015). We express our gratitude to the government of Bahrain for the response dated of 13 July 2015 but find that it does not sufficiently address the concerns, legal obligations, and questions raised in the initial communications, in particular in relation to the allegations of torture and ill-treatment of several individuals. According to the information received: On 10 March 2015, disturbances broke out at Jah Prison, the main prison in Bahrain, following the cancellation of a planned family visit and the assault of a female relative visiting an inmate by security personnel at the prison. Detainees protested and barricaded themselves in their cells and chanted against the prison authorities. The protest was violently suppressed by Bahraini security forces using rubber bullets, tear gas and shotgun pellets inside the prison, including inside blocks and cells, aiming at detainees. Prisoners were also severely beaten with punches and kicks and batons on their arms, backs, heads and genitals. The security forces also proceeded to throw detainees on top of one other in the corridors and jumped on them.

2 Hundreds of detainees, including juveniles, were injured in the violence: Severe physical injuries were reported, including severe burns caused by tear gas and sound grenades, as well as bone fractures including broken fingers, hands and wrists, injuries to backs and legs, concussions, loss of teeth, and facial bruising. Numerous detainees suffered suffocation from the use of tear gas inside the confined spaces of the prison. Following the crackdown, detainees were deprived of food for over 24 hours, restricted from using the toilet, causing them to urinate in bottles or on themselves, and prevented from performing their religious practices, including prayers. On 11 March 2015, when the detainees were given a meal, they were simultaneously beaten and verbally abused. On 12 March 2015, security personnel allegedly forced detainees on to the ground, beat them and forcibly shaved their heads and beards. Some prisoners were tortured, humiliated and illtreated in front of other detainees to make an example of them. Following the protests, the prison administration prohibited family visits and phone calls for at least 15 days. Since the initial crackdown, a number of detainees have been tortured and illtreated, and several were put in solitary confinement as punishment. Detainees were beaten, verbally abused and threatened. Security officers allegedly subject them to humiliating random searches: they were strip searched and sexually harassed. These abuses occurred in the toilets and main offices, the only locations in the prison that are not placed under constant video surveillance. Solitary confinement has been used as a routine punishment. While 57 detainees were referred to a court on 23 July 2015 on charges of use of violence, attack of policemen to prevent them from performing their duties, arson with intent to riot, and destruction of public property, no criminal proceedings were initiated against prison officials into any of the alleged acts of torture or illtreatment that took place during and after the incident. Injured detainees requested medical examinations, and at least one detainee who was referred to the court attempted to show the judge the injuries he sustained from the treatment. The judge did not investigate the allegations. In general, detention conditions at Jah Prison remain unsatisfactory: the facility is severely overcrowded, which leads to insufficient sanitary and hygienic conditions and an inadequate healthcare regime which is not equipped to deal with emergencies. Following the crackdown in March 2015, detainees with visible physical injuries have been denied access to the public medical health services. The prison clinic allegedly sometimes accepts patients, but most often turns them away, in particular if they were victims of the crackdown of the March riot. 2

3 Prison authorities continue to deprive the detainees of access to their attorneys, and family visits were shortened. Two additional buildings were constructed in Dry Dock detention centre and approximately 300 detainees, all aged less than 21 years old, were transported from the tents in Jah Prison to these new buildings. Four new buildings were also constructed in Jah Prison, but conditions remain poor with water leaks, humidity and the spreading of infectious dermal diseases. We are expressing grave concern regarding the torture, ill-treatment and solitary confinement of prisoners, and the poor general detention conditions at the Jaw Prison, including inadequate or no access to medical health care. Further serious concerns are expressed at the absence of any investigation or prosecution into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees during and after the protests of 10 March We would like to remind your Excellency s Government of the absolute and nonderogable prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment as codified in article 2 and 16 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which Bahrain acceded 6 March In connection with the above alleged facts and concerns, please further refer to the Reference to international law Annex attached to this letter which cites international human rights instruments and standards relevant to these allegations. It is our responsibility, under the mandates provided to us by the Human Rights Council, to seek to clarify all cases brought to our attention. We would therefore be grateful for your observations on the following matters: 1. Please provide any additional information and/or comment(s) you may have on the above-mentioned allegations. In particular, we would welcome information about the causes that led to the prison protest. 2. Please provide information relative to the measures taken to ensure the physical and psychological integrity of the detainees at Jah Prison, including information about overall medical care provided to all in detention, and in particular to those affected during the March protest. 3. Please provide the details, and where available the results, of any investigation, medical and forensic examinations, and judicial or other inquiries carried out in relation to the alleged crackdown of the protest in Jah Prison in March 2015 and the subsequent ill-treatment of detainees. If no inquiries have taken place, or if they have been inconclusive, please explain why. 3

4 4. Please provide the full details of any prosecutions which may have been pursued in relation to the case. Have penal, disciplinary or administrative sanctions been imposed on the alleged perpetrators? 5. Please provide information regarding current prison conditions and procedures for ensuring access to medical care for prisoners. We would appreciate receiving a response within 60 days. While awaiting a reply, we urge that all necessary interim measures be taken to halt the alleged violations and prevent their re-occurrence and in the event that the investigations support or suggest the allegations to be correct, to ensure the accountability of any person(s) responsible for the alleged violations. Your Excellency s Government s response will be made available in a report to be presented to the Human Rights Council for its consideration. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration. Dainius Puras Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health Juan E. Méndez Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 4

5 Annex Reference to international human rights law In connection with above alleged facts and concerns, we would like to remind your Excellency s Government of the absolute and non-derogable prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment as codified in article 2 and 16 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which Bahrain acceded 6 March In the context of the above named allegations, we would like to draw the attention of your Excellency s Government to article 12 of the CAT, which requires the competent authorities to undertake a prompt and impartial investigation wherever there are reasonable grounds to believe that torture has been committed, and article 7 of the CAT, which requires State parties to prosecute suspected perpetrators of torture. We would further like to draw the attention of your Excellency s Government to Principle 15 of the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Officials, which provides that law enforcement officials, in their relations with persons in custody or detention, shall not use force, except when strictly necessary for the maintenance of security and order within the institution, or when personal safety is threatened (adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, Cuba, 27 August to 7 September 1990). Moreover, with regards to allegations of solitary confinement of detainees, we would like to refer to the report by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (A/66/268), in which it is stated that the use of prolonged solitary confinement in itself runs afoul of this absolute prohibition. Moreover, due to the prisoner s lack of communication, and the lack of witnesses, solitary confinement enhances the risk of other acts of torture or ill-treatment. We would also like to recall paragraph 6 of General Comment No. 20 of the Human Rights Committee (adopted at the 44th session of the Human Rights Committee, 1992), which states that prolonged solitary confinement of the detained or imprisoned person, may amount to acts prohibited by article 7 of the ICCPR. We would like to draw the attention of your Excellency s Government to Principle 19 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 1988 which states that, A detained or imprisoned person shall have the right to be visited by and to correspond with, in particular, members of his family and shall be given adequate opportunity to communicate with the outside world [ ]. We furthermore would like to stress that unacceptable conditions of detention as those described above can amount to inhuman and degrading treatment, as consistently found by, among others, the Human Rights Committee. 5

6 Regarding access to medical treatment in detention, we would like to refer your Excellency's Government to General Comment 14 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which relates to the implementation of the obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which Bahrain acceded to on 27 September The General Comment underlines the obligation of States to respect the right to health by, inter alia, refraining from denying or limiting equal access for all persons, including prisoners or detainees to preventive, curative and palliative health services. (GC CESC 14, Para.34). We also deem it pertinent to refer to Principle 9 of the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 45/111, according to which all prisoners should have access to the health services available in the country without discrimination on the grounds of their legal situation. 6