MANAMA: The Ministry of Interior has termed the reports of Amnesty International and BCC as incorrect and misleading.
The Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Interior denies reports in the media and by Amnesty International regarding the alleged mistreatment of Ahmed Jaber Al Fardan. The Ministry acts in accordance with all international standards and maintains the highest commitment to human rights.
On December 26, 2013, Ahmed Al Fardan was presented with an arrest warrant for his involvement in a Molotov cocktail attack on police in Abu Saiba earlier in the month. Al Fardan was transferred by police to the Public Prosecutor on the day of his arrest. In addition, like other arrestees in Bahrain, he was taken for a standard medical examination within 24 hours of arrest. In Al Fardan’s case, this was, again, on the day of his arrest, at night. Al Fardan made no complaint to doctors during the medical examination, but was found to have high blood pressure and an elevated enzyme in his blood, which led to his admission to the Ministry Medical Center. He remained there for treatment and observation until December 31.
In addition to not having made any complaint to doctors, Al Fardan was otherwise found to be in good health and condition. His ribs were not broken and he was not taken to the Salmaniya Medical Complex for an x-ray, as is incorrectly reported by Amnesty International and the BBC. Amnesty International’s report is wrong in all of its allegations. Al Fardan was not beaten. At no stage did Al Fardan pass out. Al Fardan was not held incommunicado; he was not subject to mistreatment at the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID); and he was not kept in prison until December 31. Amnesty is also wrong to suggest that Al Fardan was subject to a ten-second time limit on the calls that he could make to his family. Like all other detainees, he was not.
The Assistant Undersecretary stresses that all complaints of mistreatment are investigated and that if any policeman is found to have acted improperly, he or she is either disciplined in the police court or, if their actions are criminal, the case is sent to the Public Prosecutor. Under the extensive reforms introduced by the Ministry since 2012, complaints against police are independently investigated. In addition, Bahrain’s detention facilities are independently monitored and detainee rights are clearly communicated to all those arrested and detained. The Assistant Undersecretary calls on the media and human rights organizations to verify the information they receive before rushing to publish it and to improve their standards of research. This is not the first time that the media and human rights organizations have grossly misreported information relating to cases.