2 months ago
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A man detained successful Bahrain past period arsenic the land kingdom came nether rocket onslaught from Iran vanished for days, until his household was called to retrieve his assemblage from a subject hospital.
Relatives said Mohamed al-Mousawi, a Shia Muslim who had antecedently been imprisoned, was redeeming wealth to commencement a business. His assemblage was returned covered successful slash marks and bruising, including connected the soles of his feet. His decease has go a flashpoint successful the Sunni-ruled, Shia-majority state connected the war’s beforehand lines, wherever critics accidental authorities person revived tactics utilized to suppress Arab Spring protests successful 2011.
Bahrain, a monarchy that hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, has arrested dozens of radical passim the warfare for filming strikes and demonstrations, expressing enactment for Iran, and connected suspicion of spying for it. “They privation to marque definite cipher challenges the state’s communicative and soundlessness immoderate voices not telling the communicative [of the war] however they privation it to beryllium told,” said Sayed Ahmed AlWadaei of the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said al-Mousawi was arrested connected suspicion of spying for Iran, allegations denied by his family, and that images of his wounds were “inaccurate and misleading.” Bahrain’s authorities said successful a connection that the state is defending its nationalist security. It denied immoderate sectarianism, saying authorities person acted lawfully and that autarkic bodies analyse allegations of abuse.
Al-Mousawi served astir 11 years of a 21-year situation condemnation connected charges including arson and belonging to a violent compartment earlier being released successful 2024 arsenic portion of a royal amnesty. A comparative and adjacent household person said al-Mousawi disappeared connected March 19 aft attending prayers with 2 friends who besides person not been seen since. Rights groups person agelong accused Bahrain of enforced disappearances.
On March 27, his household received a telephone to cod his body. The relative, who saw it astatine the morgue, said al-Mousawi appeared to person been whipped with cables. He said determination were evident electrocution burns, including down his knees, and cigaret burns elsewhere connected the body. APreviewed images of al-Mousawi’s body, which bore marks described by a full of 5 witnesses who saw it successful person.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said al-Mousawi had been held by the National Security Agency. As portion of reforms pursuing the 2011 protests, the home spy work was stripped of its powers to apprehension implicit maltreatment allegations. But they were restored successful 2017 arsenic Bahrain deepened a long-running run to suppress dissent.
‘Misleading images’
The Interior Ministry said images of “injuries sustained by the deceased are inaccurate and misleading and person been deliberately disseminated to mislead nationalist opinion,” without elaborating. The decease certificate from the subject infirmary said helium died of a bosom attack. His household said the 32-year-old had nary pre-existing conditions.
Ahmed Banasr, a forensic adept with the New York-based Physicians for Human Rights, said the wounds successful the images were accordant with blunt unit trauma. Wounds connected the soles of his feet assistance regularisation retired different explanations, specified arsenic a combat oregon fall.
“The findings are highly accordant with alleged torture,” helium said.
Al-Mousawi was among dozens of Bahraini Shias ensnared successful a crackdown that critics accidental has escalated since Israel and the U.S. launched the warfare against Iran connected February 28.
Rights groups spot the arrests and al-Mousawi’s decease arsenic a caller signifier successful Bahrain’s long-running run of repression that reached a highest successful 2011 arsenic pro-democracy uprisings swept the region. That year, the ruling Al Khalifa household crushed wide demonstrations with assistance from troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Periodic unrest has continued since, with the authorities casting the mostly Shia protesters arsenic Iranian proxies. Unlike different Sunni monarchies successful the Gulf, Bahrain — similar Iran — has a Shia majority.
“It truly remains to beryllium seen however acold the authorities is going to spell successful its crackdown connected people,” said Maryam al-Khawaja, a Bahraini activistic surviving overseas whose begetter is jailed successful Bahrain. “What we’re seeing close present is decidedly a batch much heavy-handed than we person successful the past fewer years.”
Bahrain’s authorities said its information measures are “a nonstop and proportionate response” to Iran’s attacks. “The individuals arrested see those who filmed subject and strategical sites during an progressive onslaught connected Bahraini territory, those who passed delicate information, and those who publically expressed enactment for a authorities that had conscionable launched strikes against Bahraini soil,” it said.
“To contiguous arrests made connected the ground of behaviour arsenic grounds of sectarian persecution and conflate the 2 — is simply a framing that we firmly and unequivocally reject,” it added.
Since the war’s start, astatine slightest 41 radical — including migrant workers — person been arrested for sharing images of what authorities described arsenic “Iranian aggression,” oregon for expressing sympathy for it. Some are accused of treason — a complaint that tin transportation a beingness condemnation oregon the decease penalty.
Bahrain has tallied much than 600 Iranian drone and rocket strikes, which person killed astatine slightest 2 radical and struck infrastructure, including a desalination plant, an lipid refinery and an aluminium smelter. Iran has besides repeatedly targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters.
Some demonstrators person mourned the sidesplitting of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and celebrated strikes connected Bahrain, according to videos seen by AP. They besides amusement firebombs being thrown and cars acceptable ablaze.
The time aft the warfare began, 21-year-old Hussein Fatiil and a person posted societal media videos of themselves waving a poster of Iran’s ultimate person astatine a protestation extracurricular the U.S. Embassy. Minutes later, plainclothes officers took them distant successful an unmarked car. The men resurfaced hours later, calling location from a constabulary presumption aft being interrogated, Hussein’s father, Naji Fatiil, told AP. Three days later, Mr. Hussein called his household again and said he’d been charged with 5 offenses, including misusing societal media and inciting hatred and treason, his begetter said.
“The charges are superior and exaggerate what happened,” helium said, adding his lad said the protestation extracurricular the embassy was peaceful. “Now helium mightiness beryllium charged with the astir terrible punishment. All I privation is for my lad to person a mean beingness and not beryllium sentenced to death.”
