MANAMA: His Excellency Interior Minister Lieutenant-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa on Monday said that there was no provision in constitution to condone torture.
The Minister asserted on Monday that torture is banned by the constitution and is penalized by law in Bahrain.
“There is tough punishment for those convicted of torture and the Kingdom of Bahrain is committed to abiding by related international conventions and agreements,” the Minister in a statement added.
He said that those who made false allegations about torture would also be challenged by the law.
He highlighted this to Bahrain TV as he continued that to protect all prisoners in Bahrain, there are many bodies authorized to visit prisons and detention centers; the judiciary and the public prosecution, the Ombudsman’s office, the Commission of the Rights of Prisoners and Detainees and the International Red Cross.
HE Interior Minister said that the detention centers and prisons were also equipped with CCTV as part of the Ministry’s efforts at transparency in detention procedures therefore there is a high degree of self-supervision and outside observers.
Any public discussion of torture should include the mention of concrete evidence.
“The General Secretary of Ombudsman office is currently investigating credible allegations of torture and action is taken if maltreatment is proven.”