brief report (amal, first political party in bahrain and the region under kangaroo military trials)

8/3/2019 Brief Report (Amal, First Political Party in Bahrain and the Region under Kangaroo Military Trials)

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Amal, First Political Party in Bahrain andthe Region under Kangaroo Military Trials

Sheikh Mohammed Ali Almahfoodh

Chairman of Amal Islamic Society (Amal) & Elite

AmalLeaders sentenced to 10 years prison

A Brief Case Report

Is lamic Act ion Soc ie tyPoli t i ca l , Is lamic soc ietyEmai l : am al.societ y11@gmai l .com

Bahrain


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Sheikh Mohammed Ali Almahfoodh

Custody Details Report


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In the Name of God, the Merciful

Preface:

On the second of May 2011, around two oclock earlymorning, a special team of the so-called national security ofBahrain raided the house where AlMahfoodhand his two sonswere living with his friends house in Jabalat-Habshi. Themembers of the team were all masked and fully armed withelectric-shock weapons and with different types of personalguns and pistols, and they were accompanied by somemembers of the police. The masked armed people werearound 40 persons and they just raided the house of one ofthe friend of AlMahfoodh. The team members attacked the house by sneaking from

the roofs of the house and broke the entrances to only break everything and destroyevery piece of furniture in the house.

The members of the national security team attacked AlMahfoodhwith his twosons, and his friend, beating them violently with hoses, sticks, boxes and kicks. Theyalso assaulted them verbally with bawdy language and cursed them and their Shiitefaith. The house was destroyed totally, and even the fences of the stairs were brokenand thrown away. Much property was stolen from the house from perfumes andwatches, to money and jewelry. After some time, the four of them were taken inseparate cars with their eyes covered to unknown destinations.

After around a month and a half, the family of AlMahfoodhreceived a phone-call from him and it lasted for 6 minutes. He did not know where he was, and he didnot recognize the date or time at that moment. In addition, he could not speak aboutany of his being subject to torture; neither could he speak about his health. Thewhole family was very concerned because his voice was very thin and his focus wasnot acceptable.

After a bit less than two months, the family received a call from the NationalSecurity, and they were told to have a visit with their detainee in the Prison of DryDeck Center of Detention. The visit allowed only 4 of his family members, not

allowing any access to personal stuff or requirements such as toothpaste andshampoo. The visit lasted for 10 minutes where the detainee and the family wereaccompanied by 6 of the national security guards. Prior to the detainees entrance,the family was told that the conversation allowed is limited to the family status only,without any reference to the political situation or anything else. The family was askedto appoint a lawyer to speak for AlMahfoodhin the First Hearing of the Military Court which was only after 4 days of meeting the detainee.


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AlMahfoodhlooked very pale and sick and the family was almost sure that he

was subject to severe torture in custody. It seemed that he lost a lot of his weight,

and his focus was not very well in the first visit. Since there were many guards, it

was almost impossible to find out anything about his health, but we were sure that

this number of guards is only trying to prevent him from telling us about his torture.This fact was supported by many statements from Human Rights Watch & Amnesty

offices about seeing AlMahfoodhin Bahrain Defense Force Hospital (BDF) more

than two times. In addition, some of the recently released detainees assured us that

AlMahfoodhwas put in private cell for more than 45 days, where he was subject to

severe torture and abuse. As a matter of fact, later on, he told us that the National

Security wanted to kill him by torture at the beginning, and he was subject to severe

torture with electric shocks and severe whipping and beating. In general, we were

told by the recently released detainees that all AmalMembers were subject to

severe torture.

With the beginning of July till now, we receive a weekly five-minutes-call fromAlMahfoodhand we have a ten-minutes-visit on a weekly basis as well. The numberof visitors is six not four now, but the visit is still escorted by members from thenational security.

In the following pages, a full detailed account will be narrated about the events thattook place before taking AlMahfoodhinto the National Security Custody.

A) House Raids:

The National Security Service with the Military teams converted the house ofAlMahfoodhinto a military center since March 28th, 2011 till he was arrested on May2nd; but the house was subject to raids till the end of the Safety Law period whichended on May 31st. They lived inside the house 24 hours, seven days a week andthis took place for more than two full months. The habitants of the house fled awayfor their lives and personal security.

All people who tried to enter the house were subject to torture, harassment,and custody.

Two men were arrested by the National Security only because these twowanted to mend the broken main door of the house (More information isprovided below).

The family of AlMahfoodhcannot return to their house until the moment of thisreport due to constant raids.

When the National Security Team or the teams related to the Military used toleave the house, they intentionally cut off the electricity of the house from themain supplier. Consequently, all the electric equipments and tools of thehouse were destroyed, in addition to the food and medicines.

All the doors were broken and destroyed totally inside the house, and manyelectronic supplies and tools with some furniture is totally destroyed.

Many personal properties were stolen such as Electronic devices andProfessional Photograph cameras.


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On the night of taking AlMahfoodhand his companions into custody, his eldestson, was forced under torture to guide the National Security to the car owned byAlMahfoodh. The thugs of the National Security smashed every detail in the car withiron bars and even the care was taken into custody till the moment of writing thisreport.

Raids targeting the Eldest Daughter of AlMahfoodh:

From the first raid on April 2nd 2011, Almahfoodsson-in-law, was arrested incommando; this raid was performed by a team from the National Security.

The familys house was raided four times (April 2nd, 19th and 30th), seeking toarrest AlMahfoodh. The raids were performed at late nights, early morningstrying to create as much terror and fear as possible in the house.

All the doors were broken throughout the raids and all the habitant of thehouse were subject to curses, harassment, and torture. Usually, every time inevery raid the carry out an investigation with the eldest daughter ofAlMahfoodhthat lasts for 3 hours.

The raids were carried out by teams carrying arms and electric-shocksweaponry. Some of the members carry video cameras and they video-recordhow women scream and cry. Most of them were dressed in civil garbs, butthey are usually escorted by the police.

The daughters of AlMahfoodhwere subject to threats by the guns carried bythe Security. They were also victims of verbal abuse and harassment, and thethugs spit on them as well.

All the children of the house were victims to the shouts and threats terrifyingthem and ordering them to shut up and stop crying.

Every time, all the men in the house were subject to severe torture andelectric shocks.

The daughter of AlMahfoodh, was threatened to kidnap her two sons, one 5

years old, and the other 2 years old only to reveal the place of her father.

After every raid, the wife of AlMahfoodhgoes into a total collapse due toexcessive violence and terror, and she is taken to hospital to receiveappropriate treatment.


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Targeting & Raiding Relatives & Friends:

More than thirty houses were raided in search for AlMahfoodh. All the raidedhouses were subject to destroying doors, torturing the habitants and stealing. Many

of the habitants, especially men, were severely tortured by hose-beating or/and byelectric shocks. Many devices and props were stolen from mobile phones to jewelryand expensive accessories

Violations & Custody:

More than 13 of his friends and relatives were taken in commando to addpressure on AlMahfoodh.

The duration of custody varied between 22 days to 4 months. All these

detainees were subject to severe torture and abuse and insults. All weresubject to severe investigations to confess details related to SheikhAlMahfoodh. None of them faced any legitimate charges.

Three women from AlMahfoodhfamily were subject to investigations by theNational Security. The duration of investigations varied from three to fourhours. The Security intentionally blindfolded their eyes all the time ofinvestigation. They were also threatened and subject to verbal harassmentand dirty language.

Around 10 persons were subject to custody and severe torture They were dragged in

the early hours of morning around 2-3 a.m. blindfolded, and without slippers,wearing the minimum garments. Most were dragged out from their beds. They wereall subject to electric shocks, whipping with hoses, and other types of severe torture.They were continuously threatened to be arrested or killed if they do not reveal theplace of AlMahfoodh. Some were returned home by the same car that dragged them,but others were thrown more than 10 Kilometers away from their houses, and theyhad to go on foot despite the unbearable pains they suffered after torture.

Termination from Work:

There are 7 persons of AlMahfoodhfamily, who were fired from their job as a meansof adding more pressure on AlMahfoodhand taking revenge.


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Targeting Amal Islamic Society (Amal)By Bahraini Regime, Report

(Brief)


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In the Name of God, the Merciful

Who are we?

AmalIslamic Society is an Islamic political society that focuses on the state and the

citizens, and defends human rights on this land in order to maintain a decent humanlife based on dignity, freedom and security.The society was established by 410 members in Bahrain these are referred to asthe Founding Members. It was officially and legitimately registered under the laws ofthe Ministry of Labor & Social Service in the Kingdom of Bahrain on the first ofRamadan in 1423, on November 6th 2002.

Preface:

The Bahraini regime has performed many violent arrest-campaigns against themembers of Amal. Many of its founding members were taken into custody, led by the

Chairman Sheikh Mohammed Ali AlMahfoodh, after many night raids to the housesand to the location of the society.

Since the early days of establishing Amalin 2002, there have been many attackstargeting the society in order to corner its political work and reduce its human rightbattle both of which are the top-goals of Amalspolitical agenda. Following are briefaccounts of the tensions between the government and the society:

a. Closing the Society for 45 days, 2005:

In 2005, the regime stopped the political work of Amal, and closed its centeras a consequence to a ceremony of honoring a group of previous detaineesknown as the 73 Candles. This group is composed of 73 detainees whospent 7 to 20 years in prison due to their political activities. Amalwas the firstsociety officially registered to be subject to such an action by the regime.

b. The Commandos Investigations & Society Raids:

In December 2007, a special Commandos team raided the building of thesociety in Janabiya, claiming a search of tools of arms/weaponry inside thebuilding. Mr. Ebrahim Alarab a founding member was detained in addition

to Isa Alsirh a very active member. According to Alkhaleej newspaper fromthe Emirates, the whole building was subject to examination in search ofweapons under the presence of the Vice-Chairman of the society and theChief of Police Investigations but nothing was found. This play was endedfrom this scene since the weaponry claim was only fabrications from theregime in order to raid the building.


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c. Society Elections Cancellation:

In the series of targeting Amal, in May 2008, the regime cancelled the results

of the societys secretarial elections and it also froze all their bank accounts.The regime claimed that elections should not be in places of worship, andhence the results are void. This was an unacceptable act against Amalfromthe regime.At that time, the Chairman stated that,

It seems that our society is intentionally destined to gointo endless conflicts with a ministry after another, andthis is against our policy. Since the society was founded,we did not aim at going into conflicts or confrontationswith any party. This accuse of abusing places of worshipis only a weak cause in order to prevent the flow of our

political work. The Matams1 are not shops to be abusedor misused. There are more than 4000 Matam in Bahrain,all of which deliver their cultural and religious upliftingmessage. In addition, we do not live in a civil state inorder to spate religion from the state, and this actionrequires immediate justifications from the executiveregime.

d. Closing the Societys Building & Banning Official Newsletter:

In the context of the intentional limiting practiced against freedom of speech

and thought, the regime froze the publishing license of the societysnewsletter on the 30th of September 2010. The regime also banned the officialwebsite of the society, an action that was practiced against many otherpolitical societies in Bahrain. This action only highlights the regimes lack oftolerance and forbearance towards any opposing voice or opinion.

e. Society Accounts Frozen:

In another annoying step, the Ministry of Justice froze all the accounts of thesociety in December 2010 without any previous notice. This action was not

explained by any justifications from the Ministry, and the action is still in effecttill the moment of writing this report.

f. The Pearl RevolutionsAmalunder Regimes Fire:

After the crackdown of the Pearl Revolution, the regime revealed its originalface, translated by a violent attack against the top-leaders, decision-makers,and members of AmalIslamic Society, from clergy, to professionals, towomen and even children. In this context, the regime targeted more than 200of Amalsmembers (founding members and decision-maker) by directdetention or night raids performed against the related families.

1Matams are building of ceremonial worships, and they are means of delivering speeches and agendas in the Shiite culture.


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Since the early days, Sheikh Moahmmed Ali AlMahfoodh, the Chairmanshouse was subject to violent raids, but he was not there. The house wasseverely damaged and much of its furniture was destroyed. Later, the raidwere organized on nightly basis against his relatives houses, and the Securtymen practiced torture, harassment and insults against the relatives. Some

relatives were arrested en commando, which raises the question of what typeof law the regime is trying to practice or enforce.The Vice-Chairman, Sheikh Abdullah Alsaleh, was also subject to manyattacks. His house was raided many times on almost a daily basis, but he wasnot found as well. Many of his relatives were subject to nightly raidsaccompanied by torture and harassment as well.

g. Ministry of Justice Cases raised in order to DissolveAmal:

On April 14th 2011, the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs raised a case in

order to dissolve AmalIslamic Society, as a result to what the Ministryclaimed to be severe violation of the Kingdoms constitutional rules anddecrees; and performing activities that damaged social peace and the nationalunity; and motivating the people to disrespect the constitutional agencies andauthorities.However, the Ministry soon withdrew its case as a consequent to Americanpressure; and it declared that the procedures are not sufficient, in order tokeep some of what remained from the mirage of democracy if any.

h. Society Raids & Destructions:

On March 28th 2011, the regime raided the building of the society. All thedoors and gates were destroyed totally, the rooms were severely damaged,all the electronic devices and computers were stolen or broken, and theprivate files of the society were all stolen. The regime tore the Quran copies inthe society, and they broke all the Turba (Shiite people use a stone made ofspecial clay while praying); and this only reflect a sectarian act intending toinsult religious beliefs. They also broke many frames and tore many picturesof Sheikh Mohammed Ali AlMahfoodh, the Chairman, and many martyrs ofthis party as shown in the photography appendix.

1. Destroying electronic devices, computers and televisions2. Broken doors and gates3. Damaging the library4. Damaging the societys furniture5. Insulting societys leaders and martyrs by tearing their pictures

i. Injustice: Court of AlMahfoodh& Amal:

The first session of the case of Amal in the National Safety Military Court

began on Tuesday June 14th 2011. The chairman of Amalwith 22 of the

Shirazzi2 group in Bahrain was denied any access to lawyers or physical

2Shirrazi is a term that is given to any person who follows Imam Shirazzi in terms of religious issues.


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examination to the court-appointed doctor prior to the trial sessions. Most of

the 23 detainees were kept in solitary cells for more than 40 days, and they

were transferred to the Dry-Deck House of Detention just two to three days

prior to the trial. It is important to note the following in this case:

1. Amalis a legitimate society that is registered under the law of Bahrain

in 2002.

2. The 23 detainees are all from the Shirazzi group in Bahrain, but many

of them are not members of Amal, and hence this trial is intentionally

set targeting a group of people based on their religious doctrines;

therefore, it lack any sort of credibility.

3. Amalis the only official society that was attacked in this savage

manner from the regime.

4. There were noticeable traces of severe torture on the bodies of

detainees.

The Charges that were stated against Amalare:

1. Propagating speeches that lead to a Coup dtat by force and

illegitimate devices, encouraging public strikes and civil disobedience,

and challenging the authorities.

2. Participating in illegal protests and assemblies assemblies composed

of more than five people.

3. Propagating fake news and images that distort the image of Bahrainand destabilize the security of Bahrain through submitting videos and

pictures that reflect internal conditions to foreign television channels.

4. Public encouragement of hatred against the regime.

5. Propagating untrue news about the interior conditions of Bahrain on the

internet, and television channels, and the international networks.

6. Two detainees were accused of obtaining white arms.

Summary of the trials Sessions:

A. Preface:

In the first session, on June 14th 2011, the charges against Amalwere listedand stated, and each detainee was introduced to the related lawyer. Mostlawyers are volunteering in their cases, and the detainees do not meet theirlawyers except for two minutes in the courts hall after the trial is finished till themoment of writing this report. The first session appointed the lawyers, andordered medical examination for all detainees.

Since June 14th till the moment, the courts session are run on weekly basis,except in Ramadan when the court was on vacation. The trial sessions were

resumed after Ramadan, on September 5th, where the session was held to thehearing of the witnesses of Offense/the Public Prosecution.


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B. Witnesses of Offense:

The prosecution witnesses were three; and they do not have any tangibleor concrete proof to condemn any of Amalsmembers. The three of themconfessed that they were present at the moment of detaining most of the group,but they failed to present any evidence against them. The witnesses did notknow the detainees in person and they all work in the National Security ofBahrain.

According to the lawyers of defense, there was no written order ofdetention from the Public Prosecution, and all the detainees were detained inburglary and raids. The lawyers asked the witnesses of offense about theirresource of prosecution and condemnation and they did not present any tangibleproof. Their answers were consensus that all the resources are confidential andsecret, and they claimed that they had a written order of detention but they didnot present it or submit it to the court. The testimonies of the three witnessesreflected a clear ignorance of their knowledge of the detainees and the wholecase. They did not know any of the detainees personally or officially, and allwhat they have of knowledge about the whole case is based on confidentialresources, which they refused to declare to the court. The only consensus truetestimony of the three witnesses was the religious background3 of all thedetainees, which is not a criminal charge in a country that claims the freedom ofreligion and belief in the official constitution.

From another perspective, according to the lawyers of defense, the lackof the Public Prosecution Permission of Detention makes the whole case voidand meaningless, and hence all the detainees must be released.

C. Witnesses of Defense:

On Sept 13th, the court was run for the hearing of the witnesses of defense.The witnesses were more than 40 but the court was sufficient with only 23witnesses claiming lack of time. Some of AmalsCase detainees did not haveany relationship with Amal, and the witnesses testified to prove this point. Inaddition, the lawyers declared that the court should be transferred to a civil court

to comply with the Royal Decree of the King, where all the trials of the NationalSafety were to be transferred to the Civil Court. The lawyers asked the judge torelease the detainees because the duration of detention of investigation hasfinished most of them have spent more than three months under custody. InAddition, the witnesses of defense proved that more than 7 of the detainees donot have any membership with Amalcurrently or prior to the crisis.

The lawyers of defense defied all the claims of offense stated by the PublicProsecution. In this context, the witnesses denied any presence of a writtenorder of detention from the Public Prosecution, and witnessed severe torturepracticed against the detainees. In the concluding remarks of the lawyers, there

3The witnesses of offense accused the detainees of being members of the Shirazzi group religiously based.


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were points that directly defy the credibility of the Public Prosecution witnessesand the whole court; the points are as follows:

1. There was no Public Prosecution Permission of Detention presented at themoment of arrest, and hence the whole case is void.

2. The evidence of Offense is based solely on the testimonies of the threemembers of the National Security without any written or recorded evidencesubmitted to the court.

3. The detainees confessional statements claimed by the Public Prosecutionwere submitted under severe torture, both physical and mental.

4. The detainees are charged with participating in illegal assemblies andprotests although the Crown Prince personally has encouraged this issuepublicly4in an interview on the CNN channel. This was also supported bythe Deputy in Charge of Executive Chief Officer of the Authority ofTelevision and Radio of Bahrain, Mr. Mohammed Ali Alrumaihi5 (manyofficial spokesmen and ministers also encouraged freedom of speech and

assembly)6

.5. Most of the detainees spent more than three months under custody and

hence the duration of investigatory procedures claimed by the prosecutionhave finished.

6. The Public Prosecution claims that detainees have propagated televisedand radio pictures and news that damage the reputation of the country anddestabilize the national security. However, there was no recorded ordocumented evidence that was presented to the court neither officially norbehind the curtains. Therefore, all the charges are void from a legalperspective.

7. The lawyers wonder how the detainees are criminals until they prove

innocence while the norm is the detainees are innocent until they prove tobe guilty. The lawyers believe that this court is based on revenge or onfake claims since the only proven and consensus accusation is that thedetainees are from the Shirazzi group. This classification is based onreligious doctrines and beliefs, a fact that has no relationship with politicsand violation against the law/constitution of Bahrain.

D. Final Verdict:

On October 4th 2011, the National Safety Court stated the final verdictof Amal, sentencing 14 members to prison and releasing nine others. The

session took only 5 minutes and the judge said that the verdict is not final andthere are chances for appeals. This decision enhances the fact that Amalistargeted by the regime. The sentences were as follows:

1. 10 years prison sentences:a) Sheikh Mohammed Ali Almahfoodhb) Sheikh Abdullah Alsalehc) Sayed Mahdi Almossawid) Sheikh Jasim Aldimistanie) Talal Abdulhameed

4

http://bna.bh/portal/en/news/447595, http://bna.bh/portal/news/447681, http://bna.bh/portal/news/4475885http://bna.bh/portal/en/news/447346

6Minister of Social Development, Dr Fatima Albeloushi declared and supported this in Geneva. http://bna.bh/portal/news/448735


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2. 5 years prison sentences:a) Sheikh Yaser Alsalehb) Sheikh Abduladheem Almuhtadic) Sheikh Habeeb Aljamri

d) Sheikh Idrees Ilikirie) Sheikh Mohammed Ali Alsalehf) Jaafar Abdulla Aljamrig) Habeeb Alansarih) Mohammed Ebrahim

Conclusion:

The court announced it verdict sentencing Amalsmembers andChairman from 5 to 10 years prison. This Kangaroo Court is a farcical courtwhere all the members of offense and the judge are merely acting andcomplying with a ready-made-series of sessions, regardless to the defenseparty and their evidence.

For the last ten years, Amalhas been calling for an urgent nationaldialogue in order to evade an eminent but inevitable blow-out in the street dueto the deteriorating conditions of civil rights and civil liberties in the country.However, these calls were received by no one, and the regime only insistedon targeting Amalbasically because Amalsaid the truth about the politicalsituation. Moreover, in the last four years, Almahfoodhalways foreshadoweda blinking crisis if serious changes were not applied immediately on thehuman rights level.

Currently, it is no secret that Bahrain is living a crucial crisis, and this crisiscould only be solved by standing at the root of the political issues, Amalsinceits inception was calling for a fruitful dialogue and had supported any initiativefor a dialogue as long as it is fruitful and productive.

To conclude, this a call for urgent intervention to stop this fake trialagainst people who have no guilt but to call for more democracy andimplement the global human rights on the ground and not only on the papersof the constitution. The changes should secure a bill of rights as in the

American Constitution in order to secure the global civil rights and civilliberties.

*******End of Report*******


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Appendix: Photography Report


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A destroyed picture of the beloved LateActivist Abdulameer Alarab

Traces of damage and destroyed devices

Victims of their hatred

Another Wall-picture of the lateActivist Abdulameer Alarab

Broken entrance of Alarabs HallTraces of damage and chaos in themedia committee centre


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Destroyed television

Private Society files

Main Hall

Pictures of the Chairman

Secretary OfficeSecretary Office


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Why they dont want the state ofsocieties and agencies

Reception Hall

Sectarian hatred against belief &thought

A casket of Holy Turbadestroyed

What remained of the picture of Martyr

Abbas Alaisereena

A Poster of the Chairman and one ofhis famous sayings

brief report (amal, first political party in bahrain and the region under kangaroo military trials)

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