Right to Left: Mohammed Al Moghani, Hussain Al Aali, Jaffar Eid 21 November 2012 The political prisoners Mohammedd Almughni, Jaffar Hussain and Hussain Al-Aali have all reported that they have been subjected to severe mistreatment before and after they are allowed to receive visits from their family members. Before the family arrives, these prisoners are required to stand for up to six hours, handcuffed, blindfolded and without food or water, often in the same room in which they claim that they have been subjected to other forms of torture at the beginning of their detention. The prisoners are not allowed to pray during this time. The families of Mohd Almughni and Jaffar Hussain are scheduled to meet with their families on Thursday, 22 November, but have decided to stop conducting these visits in order to protest this brutal treatment. When the family members have visited the prison before, they stated that they have observed the detainees shaking and report that they have trouble hearing and seeing properly. The actual location of their detention remains unknown after more than five months of imprisonment, although the visits are held in the Central Investigation department (CID). The detainees are not allowed access to any books, newspapers, writing papers or pens; the only book they are allowed to have access to is the Quran. Other prisoners are allowed periodic access to television and others to radio, but these political prisoners are not allowed access to any such communication lines with the outside world. They are only allowed outside for approximately five minutes per day, and this always occurs at night so that the prisoners never have any exposure to the sun. Furthermore, they have not been allowed regular access to a lawyer. One of the detainees spoke on one occasion with a lawyer, but when he showed evidence of his torture (marks on his body) to the lawyer, he was beaten. The lawyer is only allowed to attend a selection of the court sessions. Once Jaffar was actually beaten in court when he tried to speak with a lawyer. Mohd, Jaffar and Hussain were all held separately in solitary confinement for months. There was a public outcry at their solitary confinement, and so the authorities now allow a prisoner of a foreign nationality to sit in the cell with the prisoners at times, but they are not allowed to speak to each other. The prisoners are not allowed to speak to anyone, make any sounds, or even read the Quran aloud. All three of these men suffer from multiple health problems, which have been caused or made worse as a result of the poor treatment that they have received during the first month of their detention. They are not receiving the medical attention that they urgently need, and indeed one of the detainees was taken to a hospital for treatment, but instead received further harassment and mistreatment, and threats. Jaffar requires an operation on his leg, and also suffers from kidney problems. Hussain suffers from knee friction and has a problem with a disk in his spine. Mohd also suffers from back problems. All three have lost a great deal of weight. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights calls for the immediate release of all three of these political prisoners, and an investigation into the allegations of torture these men have made against the prison guards.

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