Bahrain: Boy arrested, threatened, risks torture

Salman Mahdi Salman, a 13-year-old Bahraini boy, has been arrested and had his detention order renewed for seven days by the Public Prosecution on 21 August 2013. He is held in a juvenile detention centre, but at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

On 11 August 2013 at around 5pm near a shopping mall on al-Budaiya' Street, in the west of the capital, Manama, Salman Mahdi Salman was unexpectedly arrested for no apparent reason.  According to an eyewitness, the child was walking alone when he was surrounded by members of the security forces who arrested him; there was no demonstration in progress in the street at the time.

He was taken to al-Budaiya' police station and released at 1am on 12 August 2013. The police contacted his family that day asking them to bring Salman Mahdi Salman back to the police station for further interrogation, but the family refused to do so. The police subsequently contacted Salman's uncle and threatened to raid the family's house and arrest the boy, if they refused to comply. Terrified by the threats and concerned for their safety, the family felt obliged and handed the child over to the police the next day.

The Juvenile Prosecution ordered his detention for seven days pending investigation, and this order was renewed for a further seven days on 21 August. 2013. Salman Mahdi Salman is currently being held in a juvenile detention centre where his family visited him on 18 August 2013. He told them that following his arrest and during his interrogation he was slapped in the face to force him to confess that he was masked at the time he was arrested, carrying a Molotov cocktail and a cigarette lighter.

TAKE ACTION

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

* Urging the Bahraini authorities to ensure that Salman Mahdi Salman is treated in accordance with the international standards of juvenile justice;

* Urging them to disclose the reason for his arrest and release him immediately unless he is charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence;

* Urging them to protect him from torture and other ill-treatment.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 3 OCTOBER 2013 TO:  (Time difference = GMT + 3 hrs / BST + 2 hrs)

King
Shaikh Hamad bin 'Issa Al Khalifa
Office of His Majesty the King
P.O. Box 555
Rifa'a Palace, al-Manama,
Bahrain
Fax: 00973 1766 4587
Salutation: Your Majesty

Minister of Interior
Shaikh Rashid bin 'Abdullah Al Khalifa
Ministry of Interior
P.O. Box 13, al-Manama,
Bahrain
Fax: 00973 1723 2661
Twitter: @moi_Bahrain
Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:
Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs
Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa
Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs
P. O. Box 450, al-Manama,
Bahrain
Fax: 00973 1753 1284
Email: minister@justice.gov.bh
Twitter: @Khaled_Bin_Ali
Salutation: Your Excellency

PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEAL TO

Her Excellency Miss Alice Thomas Yusuf Samaan, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, 30 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8QB

Fax: 020 7201 9183        Tel: 020 7201 9170                

Email: information@bahrainembassy.co.uk          Website: http://www.bahrainembassy.co.uk