In his 1986 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Elie Wiesel said,

February 14, 2014 marks the third anniversary of the most recent civil unrest in Bahrain. The scene above¹ encapsulates a sight that is not too uncommon in everyday life. The accounts below are from victims of torture, whose testimonies were documented by the Independent Commission of Inquiry.² The commission gathered over 9,000 testimonials and conducted over 5,000 interviews with individuals during their fact-finding mission. The testimonials have been modified from the original third person to the first person. They have not been editorialized.

“During the night and in the morning, masked men banged on the doors of my cell. They would regularly pour cold water on my body and on my mattress. I was made to stand for several hours while they insulted me, beat me and spat in my face. They forced me to kiss their hands and lick their boots like a dog.”

“I could hear other detainees being beaten, but could not see them. They would frequently make me kiss a picture of [a neighboring country's] king.”

“I was placed in solitary confinement for three months in a cell measuring one meter in width and one meter in length.”

“Prison guards deprived me of sleep by pouring cold water on my body. Most of the time, they would have already stripped me of my clothes. They would also pour cold water on my bed.”

“On March 10, I was participating in a peaceful protest in Sitra when I was arrested by a number of individuals in civilian clothes. I initially thought that they were thugs, but later discovered that they were police officers. They took me to an open area near my village where there were 30 members of the riot police. They began to beat, torture and sexually assault me. They threatened to kill me. They beat me all over my body with their rifles until I could see the bones in my wrists. They broke my nose. They insulted me and my sect. I finally fainted.”

“I was repeatedly beaten with a hose, stripped naked and suspended from the ceiling in a trapeze-like position. On two occasions, they inserted a hose into my rectum. On another occasion, they tied a wire around my penis and would tug at it. I could hear other detainees screaming all night. It was impossible to sleep.”

“I was taken to Al-Qalaa where I was brutally tortured. They hung me upside down and beat me on my stomach and feet until they bled. I was blindfolded, handcuffed and deprived of sleep for seven days.”

“Masked men spat in my mouth and forced me to swallow their spit.”

“I was taken to the police station where they removed my handcuffs and gave me back my crutches[, since I am disabled]. They accused me of being a traitor and and would constantly subject me to verbal abuse and threats like Your daughter is being raped from the back and we will start doing it from the front, and, You are a son of a whore and you don’t deserve to live.”

“Immediately after my arrest, I received a hard blow to the side of my face, which broke my jaw and knocked me to the ground. I was taken to the Ministry of Interior clinic and then to the hospital where I had major jaw surgery for four broken bones in my face.”

“I was subjected to various forms of mistreatment. They put me into a contraption that makes one feel like their neck is about to snap (strappado).”

“I was forced to kiss and lick my interrogators’ shoes.”

“During interrogations, I was hit with brute force on my ears (teléfono), which led to my ears' tympanic membranes being ruptured. I was beaten in the head and on my face, kicked in my legs and buttocks and subjected to electric shocks on my inner thighs. I was placed in a contraption with my legs facing upwards and my head hanging down below for three or four hours.”

“I was electrocuted and beaten on my head and on my genitals until I fainted. I woke up in a hospital, and was then immediately taken back to the interrogation room and the beating continued. They broke my nose. They then hung me from the ceiling until I fainted. When I woke up again, they started electrocuting me on my genitals. I told them to write any confession they wanted me to sign and I would sign it.”

“I was deprived of sleep during the entirety of my time in solitary confinement, which was 22 or 23 days. I was denied access to a lawyer and was not allowed family visits.”

“My hands were sliced open with a knife and they rubbed my wounds with pepper and lemon. The resulting pain was indescribably severe.”

“I was placed in solitary confinement for a period of seven days during which I was deprived of sleep and forced to stand blindfolded and handcuffed. I was prevented access to the toilet and ended up having to urinate on myself.”

“After arriving at the Dry Dock Detention Center, my head was shaved. They kept me blindfolded and handcuffed and forced me to remain standing for three days. I was tortured every hour and was only allowed to use the toilet for 15 seconds after meals.”

“I was arrested by military forces at Salmaniya Medical Complex on my way out of work on March 17. They handed me to a group of people in civilian clothes who were accompanied by police officers. My ID, passport, wallet, glasses and keys were confiscated. I was told that they were 'spoils of war' and that I would not see them again.”

“At around 2:00AM on March 23, I was arrested at a friend’s home in Sitra. There were approximately 30 police officers on the scene as well as a number of men in civilian clothes. They were all wearing masks. They entered the house and started destroying property.”

“On more than one occasion, they would pour cold water on me and would then force me to stand in front of an air conditioner.”

“I was made to kiss the hands and feet of masked men, the pictures of the King and Prime Minister of Bahrain as well as [a neighboring country's] king.”

“Security forces made me undress and pushed a hose into my anus until I said whatever it was that they wanted me to say and signed a confession.”

“I was brought into the inspector's office, who proceeded to make a call to one of his colleagues. He told him, I have someone good-looking here, do you want him? The person on the other end said, I am busy now but will pass by soon. They were going to rape me.”

“On May 8, I was taken to court and they sexually harassed me throughout the car journey. After arriving there, I was taken to one side where executions are performed. A guard told me, It has been a long time since we executed anyone.”

“I was shot in my left leg and lost consciousness. I woke up in the military hospital. There, I was beaten on my wounded leg and subjected to verbal abuse, which was directed at me, my sect and my mother. I was not permitted to use the toilet and was kept naked throughout my time there.”

“In the evening, they stripped me naked and transferred me to Isa Town police station. I was kept in solitary confinement and denied food and water for three days.”

“I was made to watch other detainees being beaten and verbally abused every day while naked. After a while, I had to call my family to ask them to bring me clothes.”

“During the first five days in detention, I was tied to a chair and denied food and water. I was tortured while strapped to that chair and forced to sign a confession. I fainted several times as a result of the torture. The torturers routinely insulted me and made me praise the Bahraini leadership. I lost my left eye and sustained a broken jaw and a broken leg. I still have trouble moving my hands and feet.”

“I was taken to another cell where I was brutally beaten on my thighs and insulted. They said that they would rape my sister. On the morning of the second day, an officer approached me carrying a black hose and beat me on my hands and feet and then in the face, breaking three of my teeth. I was then electrocuted. Despite vomiting throughout the ordeal, the beatings continued. I was told to urinate in a jar, but I couldn't.”

“I was in the hospital at the time. As I walked out, I passed by a checkpoint and the officer asked about my injuries. I told them that I had been shot at with bird pellets. Upon hearing that, the officers proceeded to beat me for four hours. They were members of the Saudi Arabian military.”

“On the first day, an officer pointed his gun at my head and said, We have the right to shoot anyone we want. I will empty this gun in your head. He then called in another officer and the two began to beat and kick me.”

“I witnessed other detainees being beaten with ropes, tubes and sticks. I also witnessed other detainees being suspended and electrocuted. I saw a journalist who had been stripped naked.”

“I was held at a police station for 16 days. They accused me of running over police officers with my car. They would not let me go to the toilet, so I would have no choice but to urinate on myself. They never gave me any water and would beat me with a metal rod until they broke my right arm. They took me to the hospital for casting eight days later.”

“I was taken to a police station for about five hours, where I was slapped, kicked, verbally abused and forced to insult my parents. I was hung by my wrists from the ceiling and forced to sign a confession without reading it. I had bird shot pellets still in my body and they would beat me on them until my wounds bled. I was beaten on my genitals following which I started to urinate blood.”

“At approximately 2:00AM, three masked men broke down the door of our home and pointed their guns at me and my 19 year-old son. They ransacked the house and took all of our computers. They beat me with a hose and then pushed me down the stairs and threw me into their car. I was blindfolded and subjected to verbal abuse. They later charged me with protesting and attempting to overthrow the government and sentenced me to 15 years.”

“I felt nauseous and dizzy after several days of mistreatment. This feeling was aggravated by crowded conditions and poor hygiene in our cells. I would constantly hear other detainees being tortured. My feet were beaten so harshly with hoses that they swelled up and damaged my nail beds. I developed severe headaches.”

“I was walking towards my car when police shot at me and several other people nearby. My left foot was badly wounded. The police then beat me with their rifle butts. When they saw that their bullets had torn my toes from the rest of my foot, they fled. I was later taken to the hospital to amputate two of my toes.”

“I was arrested at my home at approximately 3:30AM on April 7. A large group of armed, masked men broke down the door and destroyed everything. I was arrested without being told what my charge was and then transferred to prison.”

“We were forced to take pills that made us hallucinate. We received little food and were not permitted to use the toilet. I would hear my brother screaming. The guards would verbally abuse us and call us sons of whores. One of the guards told me that [there was nothing that he would like more than] to cut me into pieces.”

“During the first month, I was exposed to extreme heat and cold. They would not let me go to the toilet for that entire period, and so I would defecate on myself. During interrogations, they would put out their cigarettes in my body. I was choked on more than one occasion and was forced to sign a confession against my own family.”

“The police raided a site where I was standing and so I ran away. I was shot in my left leg. I went to hospital to have surgery on said leg and remained in hospital for four days, during which time I was blindfolded and handcuffed to the bed. The guards threatened to amputate my wounded leg and send me to Saudi Arabia to have my throat slit.”

“I was returning home from work at approximately 6:30PM on March 15 when I was stopped by police officers at a checkpoint. Six armed policemen wearing masks and uniforms beat me with their rifle butts on my chest and arms, and then kicked me so severely that I fainted. I later realized that I had been shot in my right leg. I must have fainted about 10 minutes after the beatings started.”

“On the third or fourth day, electric shocks were applied every 30 or 40 minutes to my shoulders, arms, nipples and penis. I was forced to face the wall and was badly beaten. On the last day, interrogators threatened that I would never see my family. They would make sexual threats against my wife and mother.”

“I was subjected to beatings and electric shocks. I was strapped to a chair and beaten on the bottom of my feet (falaka) and forced head first into a toilet. The conditions were harsh and unhygienic.”

“At 7:00AM on March 17, I was dropped semiconscious in front of Salmaniya Medical Complex. I was suffering from paralysis of the right upper and lower limbs, pain in my hip joints and a total inability to speak. My family knew nothing of my whereabouts for 20 days.”

“After thirteen days, my handcuffs and blindfold were removed, and conditions started to improve. I still hear noises [in my imagination] and experience numbness in both feet and in my left hand.”

“I was arrested at my home on March 27. A group of soldiers belonging to the Special Forces entered my house and pointed their weapons at me in front of my wife and seven year-old son. They took me out of my bedroom, blindfolded me and tied my hands behind my back with plastic handcuffs.”

“I was arrested at approximately 5:00AM on May 17 in front of my house. I was overpowered by a number of people wearing masks and blue police uniforms. There was no arrest warrant. They beat me with their fists, slapped him in the face, kicked me and hit him with brute force on the ears (teléfono). They also hit me with their rifle butts.”

“I was in front of a relative's house when I was overpowered by a large group of police officers. They pulled me by my clothes and pushed me to the ground. There was no arrest warrant. They beat me with their fists, slapped me in the face and on the ears, kicked me and then finally tore off my clothes. I was transferred to a garage where I was beaten for about half an hour.”

“I was taken to Al Wusta police station where they beat me with their hands. They kicked me and then sexually abused me by pushing a rifle tip into my anus. They insulted my sect and family and threatened to rape me and my female relatives. I was beaten with a hose on my legs and feet.”

“The conditions in my cell were unhygienic and I was prevented from going to the toilet. I was interrogated and accused of possessing a firearm, attempting to overthrow the King and having unlawful connections with foreign countries. I was forced to sign a confession of about 40 pages without reading it.”

“I was driving my car in the village when masked men suddenly stopped me in the middle of the road. They asked what my name was, and when I told them, they put me in their car, blindfolded me and drove to an unknown location. They then removed my blindfold and viciously beat me. They wanted information about people whom I had never heard of.”

“Commandos, riot police and masked men in plain clothes broke into my home and ransacked my bedroom. They broke personal items and stole money. They took me somewhere where they beat me and then afterwards transferred me to the interrogation center. In the interrogation room, when I did not respond correctly, they would beat me with sticks on my spine and head. They told him, Confess you donkey; confess you son of temporary marriage.”

“I was arrested at around 7PM on March 19 after security forces raided my home without an arrest warrant. Around 15 individuals, most of them masked and a few of them in plain clothes, physically attacked me. They took a number of items from my home including phones, laptops and the equivalent of $40,000 in cash.”

“I was arrested on April 11 at the airport and taken away from my husband and three children. The officers drove me to my home and ransacked it in front of me. They stole the equivalent of $13,000. They then took me to prison and while there, they would beat me on my temples. I was humiliated and told that people [like me] cannot be doctors.”

“I was handcuffed and blindfolded on my way to court. We were forced to sing the national anthem and were told that we were to refer to each other as dogs. Each detainee was numbered as Dog 1, Dog 2 and so on. Before the court session, we were all forced to stand in the sun. The soldiers threatened us not to say any word in court besides guilty or not guilty. I was only able to talk to my lawyer for a few minutes after the court hearing.”

“I was arrested while in my car, stuck in a traffic jam. Plain clothes individuals took me out of the car, slapped me, tied my hands and placed a hood over my head. I was taken to an unknown location and interrogated. There were two interrogators. One spoke with a [foreign] accent and the other was a Bahraini.”

“When I arrived at the National Security Agency, a man wearing a traditional Gulf robe approached me and gave me a paper and a pen. He said that there were two kinds of treatment, one for humans and one for animals, and that I had to choose between them. The interrogators used terrifying techniques and said that they would do things to me that I could not begin to imagine if I did not cooperate.”

“I remained in solitary confinement at the National Security Agency for 45 days. I would not see the sun except for very short periods while I was being transported to the Military Prosecution or to court. I was insulted by [national and foreign] guards. I would constantly hear the cries of people being tortured.”

¹ Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, 2011.
² The original video recording with English subtitles and audio is available on YouTube, 2012.

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