Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive)
Ibtisam Saleh - Bahrain

Perhaps we were lucky to make this interview, as our interviewee is now again behind bars. In Bahrain Mirror, last year, we decided during the month of Ramadhan to write all the medics biographies. We consider their tragedy different from all the tragedies that bereft our people. They deserve that people know about them. We drew out a plan. Ebrahim Al-Demstani was among them. We did not know, neither did he, that it was only a short break out of prison. We met with him, and had long talks. When we went to edit his interview we found his talk eloquent and full of bitterness. We eliminated our questions and left the wonderful narrative that he demonstrated. In this part of his story Al-Demistani presents the details of his arrest, how he was arrested, to where he was taken, the officers who supervised his torture… and where! Let's leave him talk.


Yousif Abu Ali was brought to the prison of the Dry Dock prison as a general inspector following the martyrdom of Ali Sagar, Zakaria Al-Asheeri, and Kareem Fakhrawi. He was the first officer to visit us. He was a dignified man, treated the prisoners kindly, and inspected the cells, the clinic, the food and the services. He used to talk to us, to try to solve problems, to smooth out obstacles, to take decisions, and to give positive orders within the limited possibilities. His presence was a mercy for us following the cruel treatment at the Criminal Investigation Department.

Additionally, there was a Pakistani policeman named Khalid Ishaq who treated us gently. Regrettably, he was accused later of the murder of martyr Ali Sagar because as he died during his work shift. Ishaq was framed, jailed, as an escape goat, only to be released later as innocent while the real murderer is free. Wali Khan, Qayyom, and Kary Abu Omer were also Pakistani policemen who treated us well.

The Information Centre in Cell 7
 
Dr. Sadeq Abdulla and I at cell (7) represented the source of the news gathered from here and there, leakages from other cells, and from my frequent visits to hospital for treatment. We collected the news and rephrased them in a positive way to raise the low spirits among most of the detainees. We heard about the death of Sheikha Moza; the mother of the prime minister and the grandmother of the King. This was passed on to us by one of the frequent visitors of the clinic at the prison. I passed on the news through the small window: "Listen guys, Sheikh Ali Salman went to pay his condolences to the royal family and the king hugged him. There is a little hope".

We tried to create an atmosphere that reduced the heavy stress. Sometimes, I scream as I walk out of my cell: "may God bring happiness to the detainees". Then heard an angry response from the policemen: "Demistani, don't talk". I answered back: "My mother told me to say this prayer so I get released". And we all laughed. Once I dared to say in the corridors:" [we are] victorious and the victory-giver is Allah" [a Pearl Roundabout slogan]. Talking was not allowed and it was punishable by cleaning a place or doing something else.

The Military Court
 
In the evening of Sunday 5 June [2011] we were informed to get ready the following day after the morning prayers. To get ready for what? Where to go? We didn't know. The vague incomplete news made us hostages of our conflicting ideas; both positive and negative. I did not feel comfortable about that obscurity, but others put positive imaginations; especially Dr. Saeed Al Samaheeji, Dr. Ghassan Dhaif and Dr. Sadeq Abdulla. They thought the following day is the day of our release. Nobody slept that night; both the optimistic and the pessimistic. We started getting ready. Some by taking showers, others by fixing their clothes.

The following day, after the morning prayers, they came to the cells to check the list of our names. Later, they split us to two groups. Here I started to be suspicious. My intuition was right as they started beating us. I really got upset when I heard the sound of restraining chains locking over our hands. They pushed us forcefully. Dr. Abdulla Al-Durazi was pushed against the bus door. His nose was injured and it bled.
 
They grouped us in two or three buses and took us to a centre to house the detainees in "ASRY" [Arab Ship-building Yard Company] to have breakfast. Then, they put all, those charged with crimes and those charged with offenses, in a small room. Everyone was expecting his fate that he imagined, but Dr. Sadeq Abdulla never stopped fighting hopelessness and assured everyone to raise our spirits. The prisoners called him "the Godfather" since he always drew positive scenarios and convinced us of them. Our exceptional wronged case made him never stop happy guessing. But, are the detainees going to believe him after they blindfolded our eyes before we got on the two Coaster buses?
 
In the way, we started to think where are we going to? Are we going to Al-Qurain Prison? To Saudi Arabia? Or  Where? The way was long but our stress was longer. The soldiers made it worse by their vague answers. When we arrived, I knew that we were at the Military Court because I saw, from underneath the blindfold, the shoes of the Bahrain Defense Force.
 

They started to call our names. "Ali Isa Mansoor", one read. He answered. When they finished calling all the names, one asked: where is Al-Ekri? So he answered again: yes. They did not recognize him without the last name. Once they did, he was bombarded by their insults. "You Al-Ekri , you ruined [a pun on his surname] the weather in Bahrain", said one of them.
 

They made us stand up for long time under the sun outside the court hall. I was imagining ourselves as they guided us with the sounds of the chains, like we were in a Hollywood movie. When they took off the blindfolds, we saw the women of the medical staff who were charged with crimes and offenses. Mr. Posner; the human rights assistant of the USA Secretary of State, was in the courtroom. He saw us tired and and exhausted from the long standing under the sun. He saw also our dirty clothes. All that made him and the judge upset. The judge ordered not to see us like that in the future sessions.
 

They read to the judge the list of the charges which sounded like charges of an armed gang: hospital occupation, attempt to overthrow the regime, owning weapons without permit, and stealing medical equipment. Then the lawyers submitted permissions to meet their clients and the judge agreed. The court board decided to postpone the hearing for a week until the lawyers met their clients and took care of the ordinary procedures of court trials. The atmosphere of the court was horrible and humiliating. At the end we met the families. I met my family with a smiling face to assure them. At that point, I saw Rula Al Saffar and I was shocked by her white hair and scrawny body. I felt sad for her, she aged years in a few months.

The Depression of Al-Tublani
 
After our return from the court, the majority of us have sunk in silence and depression. Mahmood Asghar and Ahmed Imran had psychological trauma, while Ghassan Dhaif had psychological complaints. Hassan Al-Tublani had obvious depression. He was silent most of the time and ate little. Al-Tublani did not participate in the demonstrations or in the roundabout. He did not do any press announcement. He saw his role to provide medical care for the injured in his department of Intensive Care. He tried to save the life of martyr Ali Al-Mumen and his reward was denunciation.

Dr. Sadeq Abdulla and I took the initiative to help him. We talked to the in-charge soldier. We begged him. He allowed him, as an exceptional case, to walk in the courtyard for fresh air for one hour everyday.

Prayers and spiritual clarity
 
Prison gives an opportunity to meditate, reflect and prayers. Most of the detainees started to do the late night prayers routinely. The roles were divided among the mates of every cell. Dr. Sadeq Jaffer focused on teaching us reciting Quran. We invested our time in reading Quran. Ten persons would finish the book in three days, each reading a section per day. Each time we finish one whole reading of Quran, we grant the blessings to all martyrs. This was started and coordinated by Dr. Nader Diwani.

We had a religious class to explain the religious rules run by the pharmacist Ali Jaffer. He was also the Imam for our group prayers. When he was released later, Diwani replaced him. Ali Al-Ekri took the role of telling the stories of the prophets.
 
On one Friday we asked Dr. Bassem Dhaif to lead our prayers the way of Jaffer Al-Tayyar; one of the famous long prayers. Eight of us prayed behind Bassem who recited it by heart. During that prayer a notorious Pakistani policeman entered the cell. He saw us praying so he left. When he came back again we were still praying. He became upset and ordered Dhaif to be moved to another cell and replaced by Dr. Sadeq Abdulla.

The Second Session
 
In 13 June, before the trip to the second court session, the notorious policeman Ali Zaid came to inspect our clothes to make sure they were appropriate and not going to upset the judge again. In this session, the notorious officer Mubarak Bin Huwail attended the session as a proof witness. His funniest lie was when he did his complicity and charged Dr. Ali Al-Ekri of having weapons claiming that the accused Ali Al-Saddadi confessed on that, though  Al-Saddadi was never arrested  and he was not interrogated.
 
The Beginning of improvement and Private Entertainment
 
After the second court session, prison circumstances got better. We got better shower soap and they gave us tea mugs. They allowed us to use the copies of Quran placed in the dressing room. Gradually, they allowed religious and prayers books. Later, we were allowed to talk to the policemen and the guards.
 
At the end of June, they allowed us to walk in the courtyard for half an hour every week. We were also allowed to smoke in the laundry drying area. The mates of one cell would go altogether to the drying room for fifteen minutes every other day. Furthermore, the prison provided us with good meals. On Sunday, they served us chicken gravy, chicken Biryani on Tuesday, and noodles with fried eggs for breakfast On Wednesday.

The detainees were creative in entertaining themselves, especially following the end of National Security (martial law) period. Some made pretty handcrafts and smoking hookah pots using old bottles of yogurt plastic cans.
 
We were punctual on exercising for half an hour daily. I lead them in the cells, while the chief paramedic Sayed Marhoon led them in the courtyard. We also entertained ourselves by playing games, like "no talking", also known as charades game.
 
Al-Tublani discovers the sickness of Al-Samahiji and Dhaif treats me
 
Doctor Al-Samahiji had a nervous argument with one of the officers who intentionally provoked him. Earlier, he had blurred vision, headache, and vomiting. The doctors of the prison could not diagnose his disease, although they had the equipment!  Dr. Al-Tublani ; who was his cell mate then, and the head of Intensive Care unit earlier, did a clinical test to Al-Samaheeji's eyes. He noticed that he had fixed constricted pupils, non-reactive to light, unlike normal pupils that would constrict in light and dilate in darkness. He diagnosed him of having brain hemorrhage because the brain cells were not working efficiently. Al-Samaheeji was taken to hospital on 9 August 2011. It was a precise diagnosis from a doctor without equipment but he had both his skills and competency imprisoned.

I was being  treatmed at the Fortress Hospital under the care of Dr. Bassem Dhaif. He was my real doctor, while the hospital's doctor was like a nurse taking the orders from him. It was an acknowledgement, though hidden, of the skills of the wronged medics. I took pain killer injections, followed by Prednesolone tablets for three weeks, in a weekly tapering dose. I benefited in the beginning, then Dr. Dhaif continued prescribing Neurobion (multivitamin tablets containing vitamins B1, B6, and B12) for the nerves.

I continued on the medication for four months, but then I could not tolerate the pain. I stopped taking the medications as a protest against preventing me from seeing a specialist orthopedic doctor. They accepted to take me to a specialist, only because they were scared that worse deterioration in my health would further condemn the regime. I was taken to Fortress Hospital for the x-rays only. When we were visited by Bassiouni Commission, I complained, so my physiotherapy continued twice a week. In this period, they took the blindfold of my eyes during my hospital visits. That was one of the credits of the presence of Bassiouni and his Commission at that time. They even placed instructional posters at the entrances of the hospital showing a drawing of a blindfolded face crossed by the X sign.
 
Hunger Strike Fails Before it Starts
 
At the end on the National Security period, we decided to start a hunger strike and we circulated the idea to all the detainees in all the cells. Some members of the medics were not encouraged. They were afraid that the issue would lead to new restrictions and new sufferings. There were two groups. One group had reservation about taking procedural steps, these were mainly from the medics. The other group, mainly from the other detainees, was in the favour of the initiative. I agreed with Ali Al-Ekri to hunger-strike. Most of our cell mates were conservative about it. Ghassan Dhaif, who was very depressed from staying in prison following the release of most of his cell mates on 28 of June, came to us saying: tonight we start the strike! But he came the following day and said: it's preferred not to strike because our release is happening soon. That was after he met with one of the visitors from Ministry of Interior who told him that. The idea was aborted to avoid discord. Unfortunately, the announcement of the strike reached the military detainees who started the strike. It was not easy to reach them to stop it. Some of them suffered a lot from the strike and that was very disturbing to us.
 
Petition against Discrimination
 
When the prison authorities took decisions to allow visits to medics but not the others that was a discrimination and unjust step towards the others. I personally refused this preference and rejected one family visit in sympathy with the others. We started working on the petition to cancel the preference which created a problem and sensitivities between the detainees because there was a violation of rules and regulations of the prison. That was in the beginning of Ramadan and August. We were able to get eighty signatures. Some doctors were irritated. They thought the petition was against them. It was not to stop the privileges for some, but to include all to have it. The petition was against the prison authorities.
 
The petition also included the demand of all prisoners to meet Bassiouni Commission, and open ward #6 cell doors during the month of Ramadan, increase the number of family phone calls similar to the medics and visits, and to allow daily visits during Ramadan, and the right to practice group prayers especially in Ramadan, and all that was allowed to the medics only. We sent the signed petition to the officer Mohd Al Ansari, and a copy of it sent to the prison in-change officer, the Criminal Investigation Department, the under-secretary of Ministry of Interior, and the office of the Ministrer of Interior.   

The results if the petition
 
A soon as he received the petition, Mohd Al-Ansari came very angry. "I came to know that you had written the petition", he said to me. I was praying, so I purposefully made my prayers longer. After I rolled up my prayer carpet I said," yes, there is unjust preference in this prison. Is it comprehensible to have visits for all members of the medics and nothing for the rest? Is this just? ". " We decided to give you all five minutes of phone calls starting from tomorrow" he said angrily, " we will do anything else in our hands, but quit these moves and petitions".

The improvements continued. All visits had the same duration, except for those diagnosed with depression. They opened the cells' doors half an hour before the sunset call for prayer. Every prisoner was able to visit the rest in the other cells. Later on, in Ramadan, these visits happened after the break of the fast [Ramadan sunset meal]. They also allowed food from outside, so the families spoiled the prisoners with bags of potato chips, chocolates, and cans of beans and tuna. Later, they allowed the home-cooked food brought by the families.  

One of the great achievements was to allow Al-Wasat newspaper. Earlier, only the state newspapers were allowed ( Al-Ayyam, Akhbar Al-Khaleej, and Al-Watan). They give one of each of these papers to all the detainees every day. We used to avoid reading Al-Watan newspaper because it causes depression due to articles of incitement and sectarianism.

When it was allowed for us to talk to our families by phone for five minutes or sometimes more on daily basis, we contacted our colleagues who were released. One of them connected me to a journalist working for Bahrain Mirror Website. I told her about my back injury. I also smuggled to her a written letter through our family visits. She published a special report titled: Ebrahim Al-Demistani:  Back-broken Twice. Bahrain Mirror was present with us in prison and it conveyed our leakages to the outer world. That happened more than one time.

• Link to part one
• Link to part two
• Link to the Arabic copy