Bahrain: The Return of the National Security Apparatus with a New Face

[The following statement was issued by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights on 7 May 2013.] 

Bahrain: The Return of the National Security Apparatus with a New Face

Introduction

Royal Decree No. 14 of 2002 established the National Security Apparatus, which was an amendment of the Amiri Decree No. 29 of 1996 regarding the management of the Ministry of Interior. According to the new decree, the National Security Apparatus replaces the General Directorate for State Security that was affiliated with the Ministry of Interior. This Apparatus is headed by a manager whose degree equals that of a minister at the cabinet. Since 2002, the notorious National Security Apparatus initiated a surveillance and wiretapping campaign on dozens of activists. It began to launch mass arrests, the most violent in 2007; the case was known as ‘burning a police car and stealing a weapon’ when many activists were arrested after Ali Jassim’s funeral. Jassim reportedly died as a result of the Security Forces use of excessive force against protestors on 17 December, which various political and human rights bodies consider Martyr’s Day. The National Security Apparatus was known for practicing numerous types of torture:

1. Severe beatings.
2. Electrocution.
3. Hanging for long periods of time in painful positions.
4. Beating the detainees’ feet with rubber hoses and/or batons.
5. Threatening the detainees with murder or rape.

In March 2008, the authorities arrested approximately thrty people from the village of Karzakan with the charge of burning property that belongs to the ruling Al-Khalifa family and killing a Pakistani officer in the village. Officers affiliated with the National Security Apparatus reportedly practiced serious violations, among them included violently raiding houses at dawn and torturing countless detainees. In December 2008, the authorities arrested approximately twenty-five people and the Public Prosecution charged them with accusations related to training in Syria, preparing explosives, and attempting to carry out a terrorist act. The National Security Apparatus interrogated them using methods of intimidation and torture. The National Security Apparatus manages people detained in the building of the Ministry of Interior – called the Fort – and in the Criminal Investigation Department building. The names of several officials from the National Security Apparatus who practiced torture became public: Colonel Yousif Al-Arabi, Major Fahad Al-Fadhala, Major Bassam Al-Miraj, Lieutenant Isa Al-Majali and First Lieutenant Bader Al-Ghaith. In 2011, King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa declared a state of emergency after violently cracking down on the pro-democracy protests in the Pearl Roundabout. The National Security Apparatus had obtained extensive powers, where it practiced the following:

1. Raiding thousands of houses, destroying their contents and targeting the residents.
2. Arresting thousands of citizens on political charges.
3. Abusing and torturing thousands of detainees.
4. Interrogating thousands of political detainees.

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report indicated that the National Security Apparatus is responsible for ‘interrogating and collecting intelligence information’ as well as ‘arresting people’ which confirms its involvement in the human rights violations that took place during the state of emergency (15 March – 1 June 2011). The BICI report went on to recommend that the National Security Apparatus should be limited to only collecting intelligence information and should not carry out any arrests of suspects. Since the recommendations of the BICI report, many detainees and their families confirmed that masked men in civilian clothing from the National Security Apparatus raided their homes. Additionally, riot police cars and black cars with tinted windows (known to belong to the NSA) surrounded their homes. The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights have documented that those arrested by the National Security Apparatus disappear for up to several days before contacting their families by phone.

Limiting the powers of the National Security Apparatus:

King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa issued Decree No. 115 of 2011 to amend some of the provisions of Decree No. 14 of 2002 regarding establishing the National Security Apparatus, this amendment includes:

1. The National Security Apparatus specializes in collecting information and observing and revealing all harmful activities related to spying and terrorism, in order to maintain the national security of the Kingdom and its institutes and organizations.
2. The National Security Apparatus refers the cases that require arrest or detention to the Ministry of Interior in order to take the necessary legal procedures in that regard.

Through these amendments, the National Security Apparatus is not entitled to carry out arrests.

The Criminal Investigations, the other face:

During the period between 23 April to 5 May 2013, the BYSHR and the BCHR documented that the Criminal Investigation Department conducted numerous arrests of political and human rights activists, the common factor among these arrests being:

1. The person detained by the Criminal Investigations Department disappears for a period that exceeds forty-eight hours and that lasts up to five days, where the detainee does not contact or meet his or her family.
2. Groups of people dressed in civilian clothes – wearing masks – raid, and sometimes vandalize the home, and confiscate electronic devices.
3. The riot police and black cars with tinted windows support and assist by surrounding the house from all sides.
4. Numerous claims of torture and abuse, and the use of the same torture methods as in the National Security Apparatus.
5. Not permitting detainees to meet their lawyers.
6. Accusations against some security personnel who carried out torture in the National Security Apparatus of participating in the abuse and torture in the Criminal Investigation Department.

The following people were recently arrested:

1. Hussein Ramadan (independent activist): he was arrested from his home in the village of Sanabis on 23 April 2013 – all contact with him was lost for 5 days. He confirmed being at the Criminal Investigation Department during those five days.
2. Hisham Al-Sabbagh (A leader in the Islamic Action Society): he was arrested from his home in the village of Sanabis on the 26th of April 2013 – all contact with him was lost for five days. He confirmed being at the Criminal Investigation Department during those five days.
3. Jehad Mohammed Ali (A member of the Islamic Action Society): he was arrested from his home in the village of Aali on the 2nd of May 2013 – all contact with him has been lost since the day of his arrest and until now.
4. Salman Zenaldeen: he was arrested while leaving a coffee shop on the 2nd of May 2013 – he called his family on 4 May and informed them that he was at the Criminal Investigation Department.
5. Naji Fateel (administrative member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights): he was arrested from his home in the village of Bani Jamra on 26 April 2013 – he contacted his family on the 4th of May and informed them that he was at the Criminal Investigation Department.

Conclusion:

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights believe that the National Security Apparatus has returned through those affiliated with the Criminal Investigations Department by spying on dissidents and activists; conducting arrests, interrogations, detaining them as well as abusing them. King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa’s decision in regards to limiting the powers of the ‘National Security Apparatus’ was in order to conceal the violations committed during 2002 – 2011 and to escape the questioning of the security officials in this Apparatus.

Recommendations:

1. An independent and impartial investigation in the torture allegations that took place in the Criminal Investigation Department.
2. Hold accountable all officials responsible for the abuse of detainees in the Criminal Investigation Department.
3. Immediately cease the detention of civilians at the Criminal Investigation Department, and to directly refer them to the specialized detention centers.