Bahrain authorities arrest yet another child

Sayed Hassan Sayed Mohammad Shubbar, a 14-year-old Bahraini boy, has been arrested and the Public Prosecution has extended his detention pending investigation. He is currently being held in a juvenile detention centre and has reportedly been charged with burning tyres

The month of September 2013 has witnessed an increase in the number of children detained by the Bahraini authorities.  Sayed Hassan Sayed Mohammad Shubbar’s case is just one of many which highlights an apparent targeting of children by the authorities.

The boy was first arrested by the police on 17 September 2013, in a Shia mosque, while celebrating the birthday of a Sh’ia Imam in the village of al-Sahla, west of Manama, the capital.

At approximately 7pm he was taken to the al-Khamis police station where he was questioned for nearly three hours in connection with rioting and burning of tyres. A police officer reportedly asked him to become an informant and gave him his telephone number.

On 18 September 2013 the police took the boy to the Public Prosecution Office where he was interrogated by a prosecutor, without the presence of a lawyer, for several hours. He was subsequently charged with burning tyres and detained for seven days pending investigation.

The child was then taken by the police to the al-Khamis police station where he had medical check-ups before being transferred to a juvenile detention centre, controlled by the Ministry of the Interior, in ‘Issa Town, in central Bahrain. He was again brought before the Public Prosecution on 25 September 2013 and was detained for a further seven days pending investigation.

On 23 September 2013 his parents visited him in detention and his father told Amnesty International that they are very concerned, especially as their son has now missed two weeks of his first year of secondary school education.   

 Please write immediately in Arabic, English or your own language:

•  Urging the Bahraini authorities to immediately release Sayed Hassan Sayed Mohammad Shubar;

•    Urging the Bahraini authorities, should there be any reasonable grounds for bringing formal charges against Sayed Hassan Sayed Mohammed, to ensure that he is treated in accordance with the international standards of juvenile justice and that under these standards children may only be imprisoned as a measure of last resort;

• Expressing concern that his detention is interfering with his schooling

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 8 NOVEMBER 2013 TO:

King

Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa      

Office of His Majesty the King

P.O. Box 555

Rifa’a Palace, al-Manama, Bahrain

Fax: +973 1766 4587 (keep trying)

Salutation: Your Majesty

Minister of Interior

Shaikh Rashid bin ‘Abdullah Al Khalifa

Ministry of Interior

P.O. Box 13, al-Manama, Bahrain

Fax: +973 1723 2661

Twitter: @moi_Bahrain

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs

Shaikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdullah Al Khalifa
Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs
P. O. Box 450, al-Manama, Bahrain
Fax: +973 1753 1284

Email: minister@justice.gov.bh

Twitter: @Khaled_Bin_Ali