Alleged enforced displacement, denial of communication not true: Ombudsman

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The disciplinary actions taken against inmates at the Jau Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre for committing legal violations are by the law.

On September 6, a team from the Office of the Ombudsman visited the Centre to meet several inmates in question and conduct investigations into allegations of enforced disappearance and deprivation of communication against them.

Based on the results of their field investigation, they concluded that there is no enforced disappearance and that the inmates are at the Centre.

When asked by the team about their whereabouts, all those inmates reported that they were currently in the wards designated for each of them.

The team affirmed that the inmates in question were subject to disciplinary penalties for committing legal violations as stipulated in the Law of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institutions and its executive regulations.

After the end of the disciplinary penalty, they were enabled to exercise their right to telephone contact with their families, but some of them had voluntarily refrained from making contact with their families, rejecting the advice given to them by the management of the Centre to enjoy that right.

Necessary procedures

During the visit, the team followed the necessary procedures to investigate the allegations.

When asked by the Ombudsman’s team about the aforesaid allegations, the Centre’s management stated that the necessary administrative measures had been taken immediately against these inmates for committing legal violations on August 10, 2022, and that the Public Prosecution had been informed that incident to take its action.

The Centre’s administration added that the disciplinary sanctions imposed against those inmates had been according to the provisions of Articles (53) and (56) of the Reformation and Rehabilitation Institutions Law (18) of 2014.

It noted that as soon as the disciplinary penalty period had ended, the inmates were allowed to communicate with their families by phone, but a number of them refused to do so.

Recorded and documented

The Centre’s administration affirmed that all the measures taken against those inmates are recorded and documented.

The members of the Ombudsman’s team reviewed the security surveillance camera’s records, which depicted the Public Security Forces advising those who refused to make phone calls to their families.

They also reviewed the administrative documents and records that show the procedures taken against those inmates to verify that they are by the law.

The team also met all the inmates in question to verify their access to communication.

Several inmates reported that they had recently contacted their families by phone, while the rest reported that they had voluntarily refrained from making the contact allowed by the Centre’s management.