Jaffar al-Hasabi was tortured in Bahrain for distributing leaflets which called for democratic reforms and equal rights. Interview by Eva Sanchis
Before the Arab Spring reached Bahrain in February a crackdown on political activists was already underway in the small Gulf state, ruled by the Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty. It was 10 p.m. on a hot August night during Ramadan last year when security officials arrested Jaffar al-Hasabi at Bahrain International Airport as he returned from a holiday with his family.
The 39-year-old father of five said he was jailed and tortured for six months, during which time he was beaten, kept suspended, deprived of sleep, given electric shocks and forced to sign a confession. He was accused of terrorism and plotting to overthrow the government, charges that he denies and that could have resulted in a death sentence.
Al-Hasabi was among 23 Bahraini activists arrested in a clampdown ahead of parliamentary elections last year. That was not the first time he had been detained by the Bahraini government. In 1995 he applied for asylum in the UK after he was tortured in Bahrain for distributing leaflets which called for democratic reforms and equal rights for the Shia Muslim majority to which he belongs.
Since then, the computer technician and minicab driver has been living in London with his family, and after 2005 started to visit Bahrain again occasionally. He became a British national in 2009.
Al-Hasabi and other detainees were finally released under royal pardons at the height of the uprising on February 23rd, following calls from protesters for their release. The other detainees also said that they had been tortured, charges that the government denied. Shortly after his release Al-Hasabi returned to the UK, but most of the others were detained again in the crackdown that followed the protests. When I recently met Al-Hasabi, who is now receiving assistance from REDRESS, the NGO I work for which helps survivors of torture, he said he is still experiencing pain in his back and that he feels weak most of the time. During the interview he talked about how he came to Britain, his latest detention and the uprising in Bahrain.
Why did you apply for asylum in 1995? I was working as a computer technician in Bahrain and through my small business we had been distributing leaflets, just collecting speeches from different people that called for democratic reforms and a constitution. I was arrested and tortured severely. When I was released the authorities followed me for more than three months. One morning I heard that my friends had been rounded up. I fled the country that afternoon.
Why were you arrested again in August of last year? After my father died in 2005 I started going to Bahrain again to see my family. I never had any difficulties until on August 16, when I came back from a visit to Iran with my mother and two daughters, I was arrested by security forces at the airport. They took my passport, my mobile, my watch, everything; they blindfolded and handcuffed me and took me to a prison called The Fort in Manama, where I was interrogated and tortured for nearly 40 days. They accused me of being a terrorist and getting money from a foreign country to plot against the government. They wanted me to confess to something I hadn’t done, so they tortured me and kept asking me the same questions. Then they moved me to another prison outside Manama, where the worst of the torture stopped, but I still had to beg to go to the toilet and I could not sleep because the guards would bang on the cell to wake me up.
What was the most terrifying moment during your detention?
The isolation, the beatings, and the fear every day that I was going to die… When you are blindfolded all the time, and you can’t see, and you are inside a small cell in the basement, it’s scary.
Why were you released? What happened after that?
Because the government came under pressure from the UK and because the Arab Spring started in Tunisia and Egypt and then happened in Bahrain and after that in Yemen and Libya… The pressure was so great they couldn’t resist it. People were protesting on the streets. If they had kept us in jail for any longer it would have backfired on them. But when they cracked down on the revolution on March 15th they came to look for us. I had already left the country, but they took most of the other activists and now they are in jail. Two or three people are in hiding. Luckily I’m here, but I’m worried about them.
Do you think that they are being tortured?
Of course they are being tortured, and more severely. Four detainees died in recent months in jail. They can’t kill political figures, but they are being tortured severely. One of them can’t move his arms as a result of the electric shocks. Another, who is disabled, was forced to crawl to the toilet because they wouldn’t give him his crutches. Now they have been sentenced to life in prison. The government has called an international committee to investigate torture, but the crackdown on the street, the revenge by the regime against the people is severe. More than 33 people have been killed on the streets and more than 3,000 have been sacked from their jobs, so thousands of families are suffering. The government released 147 detainees a few days ago, but there are still more than one thousand people in jail. Everybody is scared, but people are continuing the uprising against the regime, because if they stop, they’ll never get reform. What political reforms would you like to see in Bahrain?The people of Bahrain should write their own constitution, rule themselves and elect their government, because we have been living in a military or police state since independence from Britain 40 years ago. People are scared when they go in or out of the country. We want to end this police state. We want democracy and we want the people not to be scared any more.
Do you have hope that the situation in Bahrain will change?
It could change if the international community and the UN apply more pressure. It could also change if America and Britain stop their double standards. They are protecting the regime and the royal family because they are their friends. They don’t care about the people being killed or about the crackdown. My hope is that because the new generation is more educated and new technology makes people more aware these days of what is happening in these countries, hopefully one day we will see these killers and torturers facing the same fate as Hosni Mubarak, being tried and facing jail.
