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The widespread protests and unrest which began in December 1994 (see Amnesty International Reports 1995 and 1996) continued throughout the year. Protesters called for the restoration of democratic rights and for the release of political prisoners. The security forces carried out mass arrests, particularly in the Shi'a Muslim districts of Bani Jamra, Sitra, Jidd Hafs and al-Sanabes, in response to demonstrations protesting against the government's closure of mosques where clerics had called for political and economic reforms. Many of the demonstrations were peaceful, but some escalated into violent clashes with police and security forces. There were at least five bomb attacks on restaurants, business centres and banks that left seven Bangladeshi and four Bahraini nationals dead. In March, the Amir, Shaikh 'Issa bin Salman Al Khalifa, issued a decree referring all cases of suspected arson and other violent offences to the State Security Court, whose procedures violate internationally recognized standards for fair trial. In October a new Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Council), a government-appointed body with no legislative powers, was formed with 10 additional members. The Amir announced an extension of the Council's powers, but by the end of the year the Council's powers had not been widened.
An unknown number of prisoners of conscience were detained during the year. Shaikh 'Abd al-Amir al-Jamri, 'Abd al-Wahab Hussain 'Ali and Hassan Mushaim'a were detained in January along with five other prominent Shi'a Muslim religious and political leaders. Most had been arrested in 1995 and released without charge or trial after about six months (see Amnesty International Report 1996). The eight detainees remained held in solitary confinement at the end of the year with limited access to relatives, but no access to lawyers.
Three men who participated in the preparation of a petition in 1994 calling for democratic reforms (see Amnesty International Report 1995) were detained; all were prisoners of conscience. Ahmad al-Shamlan, a Sunni Muslim lawyer, was detained in February. He was acquitted by the State Security Court in May of possessing and distributing literature containing false information about the government and released. Ahmad Mansur 'Ali Ahmad was arrested in February and held incommunicado for two months, and Sa'id al-'Asboul, a civil engineer, was detained in April for eight days. Both were released without charge or trial and no reason was given for their arrest.
In March, 10 women were arrested, apparently because of their relationship to male political prisoners and their involvement in public protests. Among them was Muna Habib al-Sharrakhi whose husband, Muhammad Jamil 'Abd al-Amir al-Jamri, was sentenced in 1990 to 10 years' imprisonment for offences including membership of an unauthorized organization (see previous Amnesty International Reports). Also among them was Zahra Salman Hilal whose husband, Ahmad Mahdi Salman, was detained without charge or trial for 18 months and then charged in June with membership of Hizbullah (see below). The women, all prisoners of conscience, were released without charge or trial after having been held incommunicado for periods ranging from several days to 10 weeks.
Mahdi Rabi', a journalist, was sentenced in April to six months' imprisonment after an unfair trial before the State Security Court for possessing and distributing false information aimed at harming state security. He was a prisoner of conscience.
By the end of the year, over a thousand political detainees were believed to remain in prison. Most were administratively detained under a law which permits the Minister of the Interior to detain individuals for renewable periods of up to three years. The law allows for a petition challenging the detention every six months, but many people were held without official orders and were detained for several months without any judicial review.
More than 100 minors were reportedly detained for varying periods; most were arrested after demonstrations or school sit-in strikes. Many were released without charge after a few days; all were denied access to relatives or lawyers. Among them were Yasser 'Ammar, aged seven, who was arrested with Al-Sayyid Majed al-Sayyid Hassan and 'Ali Mahdi Mahmud, both aged eight, and held for several days for alleged insolence to police during demonstrations in January. At least 12 minors were tried in connection with the protests and convicted during the year, but no details on their cases were available by December.
Scores of people were arrested over several weeks, starting in June, in connection with an alleged Iranian-backed plot to overthrow the government. The authorities announced that the suspects were members of Hizbullah, an unauthorized group. Most were held incommunicado in Jaw and al-Qal'a prisons, and some were reportedly tortured during interrogation. By December, none of the estimated 55 detainees who remained held had been tried.
At least 150 people were tried and sentenced by the State Security Court following the Amir's decree in March referring all cases of suspected arson and other violent offences to this court. Defendants were denied access to lawyers until they appeared in court; tried in camera; had no right to appeal the sentence to a higher court; and were convicted mainly on the basis of their uncorroborated confessions. Such confessions were often reportedly extracted under torture. Custodial sentences ranged from three months to life imprisonment. In July, four defendants, Khalil Ibrahim Khamis, Qambar Khamis Qambar, 'Abdullah Ibrahim Khamis and Muhammad Ridha al-'Attar, were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in a fire-bomb attack on a restaurant in Sitra in March which resulted in the death of seven Bangladeshi nationals. Another defendant in the same case was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment and three others were sentenced to death (see below).
There were numerous reports of routine and systematic torture and ill-treatment to extract information from detainees dur-ing the initial weeks of their detention. Methods included severe and sustained beatings, suspension by the limbs, sexual abuse and threats of execution. Women and female students were increasingly subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In March, over 25 women, including high-school students, were arrested in connection with protests which erupted after the execution of 'Issa Ahmad Qambar (see below). They were held incommunicado for up to a month and ill-treated. Safiyya Yusuf 'Ali Darwish, Nawal 'Ali 'Abbadi and Ahlam 'Abd al-'Aziz Salman 'Ali, all aged 18, were reportedly stripped to their underclothes by female security officers and kept standing for up to four hours at a time during interrogation. Some of them were also deprived of sanitary facilities and food for more than 24 hours. There were also reports that the students were threatened with rape by male officers. All 25 women were released without charge or on bail. Safiyya Darwish and Nawal 'Abbadi were later tried and received suspended sentences of six months and one year respectively.
In August, one detainee died in custody, apparently as a result of torture. The body of al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Sayyid Amin al-'Alawi was handed over to his parents four days after his arrest, reportedly bearing marks of torture. A British forensic expert who examined photographs of the body found marks suggesting that he died suddenly while suspended face downwards with his wrists bound. No investigation into his death was known to have been carried out.
At least four people, including a woman, died after being shot or beaten by members of the security forces in what may have been extrajudicial executions. Fadhel 'Abbas Marhoun died in May after being shot by members of the security forces during a reportedly peaceful demonstration in the district of Karzakkan. Also in May, 'Abd al-Amir Hassan Rustum was knocked down by a police car chasing demonstrators in the village of al-Daih. Police then reportedly beat him with rifle butts and batons. He died of his injuries at home two days later. In July, Zahra Ibrahim Kadhem died after members of the security forces beat her and shot her with rubber bullets in the face and back at close range when she tried to prevent them from arresting her son in the village of Bani Jamra. No investigation was known to have been initiated into these deaths.
Three people were sentenced to death after unfair trials before the State Secur-ity Court in July. They were 'Ali Ahmad 'Abdullah al-'Usfur, a civil servant; Yusuf Hussain 'Abd al-Baqi, a teacher; and Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim al-Kattab, employed in an aluminium company. They had been convicted of carrying out a fire-bomb attack in March which killed seven people (see above). In October, the Court of Cassation, which under Bahraini law must review all death sentences, ruled that it had no jurisdiction over State Security Court sentences. At the end of the year, all three remained on death row.
One person, 'Issa Ahmad Qambar, who had been sentenced to death in 1995 (see Amnesty International Report 1996), was executed in March by firing-squad in the first execution in Bahrain in almost 20 years.
During the year, at least seven Bahraini nationals were banned from entering the country. They included non-violent opponents of the government who had been expelled or had left voluntarily and students who had spent time abroad, especially in Iranian theological centres. Yasser Mirza Ahmad 'Abdullah was kept with his wife at Bahrain airport for four days when he tried to return from Iran in February. They were forbidden to contact their families or friends in Bahrain and sent to the United Arab Emirates.
At least nine Bahraini nationals, among them political opponents who had fled the country, were arrested in June in the United Arab Emirates and forcibly returned to Bahrain (see United Arab Emirates entry). By December, three of them were known to remain held without charge or trial, including Ja'far Hassan Sahwan and Ghazi Radhi al-'Abed. Another Bahraini national, Jamil 'Abd al-Ghani 'Abdullah, was forcibly returned from Kuwait in May; he was detained for one week before being released without charge.
Amnesty International continued to appeal to the government to release prisoners of conscience, carry out independent investigations into reports of torture of detainees and into killings by members of the security forces, and ensure that detainees were brought before courts which comply fully with international standards for fair trial. Throughout the year, the organization repeated its proposal to send a delegation to Bahrain on a fact-finding visit and to hold talks with government officials. The government responded by rejecting Amnesty International's findings but failing to address specific cases or concerns. The government did not grant Amnesty International access to Bahrain.
In April, Amnesty International submitted information about its continuing concerns in Bahrain for un review under a procedure established by Economic and Social Council Resolutions 728f/1503 for confidential consideration of communications about human rights violations.
In July, Amnesty International issued a report, Bahrain: Women and children subject to increasing abuse, which described a growing pattern of detention without charge or trial of women and children and the cruel and degrading treatment of women in detention. It also contained recommendations to the government. The government responded by challenging the credibility of the report, but did not address the organization's concerns.
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