Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian agency: Russia will conduct a nuclear test if the US does
Al-Nakhalah: We are the rightful owners, and we must fight to retrieve our rights
Al-Nakhalah: The enemy and its allies must know that we can never surrender to their terms and diktats after all the sacrifices made
Al-Nakhalah: The prisoner exchange clause can be completed in the next few days, and thus we will have pulled the [explosion] fuse and removed the enemy's justifications for aggression
Al-Nakhalah: The Resistance has expressed its willingness to negotiate on the basis that there are items that can be dealt with positively, the first of which is the prisoner exchange item
Al-Nakhalah: Trump's plan entails the Palestinian people's declaration of complete surrender to the enemy
PIJ Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, in an address aired on Al Mayadeen: The Resistance is engaging in a fierce negotiating battle under the so-called Trump plan
Russian Federation Council approves joint military cooperation agreement with Cuba
Al-Nunu: Today, the lists of prisoners required to be released, the agreed-upon criteria and numbers, were exchanged
Al-Nunu from Sharm el-Sheikh: Negotiations focused on mechanisms for implementing an end to the war, the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of prisoners

Bahrain using physical, psychological torture against detainees: ADHRB

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 1 Feb 2023 21:09
5 Min Read

Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain published a report highlighting that the Bahraini regime was torturing prisoners.

  • x
  • Bahrain using physical, psychological torture against detainees: ADHRB
    In this Friday, April 18, 2014 file photo, thousands of Bahraini protesters, waving national flags, signs, and pictures of jailed political figures and people killed in unrest, chant slogans during a march organized by opposition groups in A'ali, Bahrain (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)

Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, a human rights organization concerned with reporting on and protecting human rights in Bahrain, issued on Monday a report entitled "Living in Agony: The Long Term Effects of Torture in Bahrain."

The organization said the report discussed the "invisible wounds that persist in Bahraini torture victims’
psychological state and social relationships years after their mistreatment, relying on testimonies from the victims themselves as well as a specialist who has dealt with these cases."

According to the report, the authorities, usually riot police, officers in civilian clothing, and Criminal Investigation officers, upon arresting individuals over their political or social activities, "are likely to use violence."

The police, according to the report, conduct warrantless raids, which they use to destroy or confiscate the property of the detainee's family, threatening or terrorizing the family itself. The physical maltreatment, the organization said, includes kicking, beating, and blindfolding, all of which are often accompanied by insults, ridicule, and threats.

The detainees are beaten, getting kicked and slapped, beaten with batons and pipes, suspended, placed in extremely cold and hot temperatures, burnt, shocked, deprived of sleep, and sexually assaulted, the report said.

The report cited the testimony of one detainee who said he was arrested in a 2:00 AM raid before he was handcuffed and blindfolded by riot police. "On his way to the investigation center, AlQareen Prison, he was subjected to sectarian insults and beatings. Once he arrived at the prison, officers beat and kicked the victim, specifically targeting his head. He was spat on, humiliated, and pushed to the ground repeatedly."

He was then placed in solitary confinement before an officer spilled water on him and turned on the cold air conditioning in order to prevent him from sleeping, accompanying that by hitting the bras of his jail cells to create loud noises and disturb him. 

He had revered religious figures and mocked and threatened that his daughters would be raped. He wound up getting sexually assaulted. "This testimony is meant to depict the inhumanity detainees are subjected to from the moment of their arrest, which can have a profound impact on their mental health."

The report highlighted the negative impact of torture, saying its psychological impact "inevitably flows into the social aspect of the victims' lives, as one's relationships with others and the way they interact with their surroundings is largely defined by their mental health."

Related News

Araghchi denies any contact with US envoy Witkoff over nuclear talks

Depleted by foreign wars, US seeks to re-arm for another confrontation

"Bahraini officials have been torturing detainees and prisoners with impunity, inflicting physical and psychological harm which victims struggle to recover from for years to come," Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain said in the conclusion.

The violence and torture, the report concluded, have left hundreds of Bahrainis to live in fear and hopelessness, rendering them unable to lead fulfilling lives because they suffered from inhumane and violent treatment without ever receiving any form of justice or support.

The Bahraini Al-Wefaq Society said in late January that the audio recordings of dozens of political prisoners in the prisons of the Bahraini regime confirmed the difficult and poor conditions under which they are living.

Al-Wefaq said in a statement that many political prisoners died during the last period inside Bahraini regime prisons as a result of poor and unhealthy conditions, being deprived of medical care, in addition to many killed under torture to extract false confessions from them.

The Bahraini Society also pointed out that denying the prisoners water, treatment, heating, and sun exposure, as well as normal communication with their families, not to mention the other inhumane conditions constitute a crime and a systematic attack on the lives of the political prisoners who were arrested for calling for basic humanitarian demands, human rights, public freedoms, and democracy.

Turning a blind eye to what is happening in Bahrain and ignoring all transgressions and crimes against human rights by all Western countries and parties supporting the regime is unacceptable, the Society added.

A day earlier, courts in Bahrain sentenced nearly two dozen anti-regime protesters to prison, including three minors, as the ruling Al Khalifah continues a heavy-handed crackdown in the tiny Kingdom.

Seven of the defendants were sentenced to life in prison in absentia, while nine others were sentenced to ten years in prison, according to the report. Two other young dissidents were sentenced to five years in prison, and three minors were sentenced to three years each.

Pro-democracy activists scoffed at the rulings against the three minors, claiming that they had been denied their most basic rights in Bahrain's notorious prisons. They also warned against subjecting minors to various forms of cruel mental and physical torture.

Earlier, the human rights organization Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain denounced the attack carried out on 14 political prisoners in isolation, warning of "the continuation of violations and impunity."

Amnesty International had previously monitored an attack against prisoners of conscience in Bahrain, who were subjected to isolation from the outside world, after filing a complaint with the authorities of the Bahraini regime.

  • United States
  • manama
  • Al Khalifa
  • Al-Wefaq Movement
  • Al-Wefaq Society
  • Bahrain

Most Read

Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sunday, September 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (AP)

Tucker Carlson: Israeli officers gave orders on Iran inside Pentagon

  • Politics
  • 2 Oct 2025
A Hamas fighter in combat fatigues stands before the ceremony for the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 22, 2025 (AP)

Hamas responds to Trump plan, backs Gaza withdrawal, exchange

  • Politics
  • 3 Oct 2025
ap

'Israel' pays influencers $7K per post to whitewash Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 1 Oct 2025
Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder revealed

Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder exposed

  • Politics
  • 5 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
In this May 20, 20201, photo Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, arrives in Baghdad, Iraq (AP)
Politics

US spent $33 billion on post-Oct.7 genocide, wars, Brown Uni reports

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., holds a news conference to mark the seventh day of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP)
Politics

US troops face unpaid wages as government shutdown drags on

Mourners wave Hezbollah and a Palestinian flag during the funeral of Hezbollah former leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Sayyed Hashem Safieddine in the Sports City Stadium in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, February 23, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Hezbollah voices support for Gaza, Resistance on October 7 anniversary

Al-Aqsa Flood restored Palestinian cause on the global stage: Hamas
Politics

Al-Aqsa Flood restored Palestinian cause on the global stage: Hamas

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS