On 3 March 2026, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) delivered an intervention during the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, under Item 3 in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Torture. The organization drew attention to the torture and arbitrary detention of four Bahraini minors documented by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, including beatings, coerced confessions, unfair trials, and abusive detention conditions. ADHRB highlighted that two of the minors remain imprisoned without remedy, while the others were released without compensation or rehabilitation, and called for accountability, an end to torture and ill-treatment, and full reparations for the victims.
We thank the Special Rapporteur on Torture for her report on reparations for torture survivors.
We draw the Council’s attention to four Bahraini minors addressed in the latest UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention opinion: Abbas Muslem Juma, Ali Husain Matrook Abdulla, AbdulAziz Husain AlHammadi, and Aqeel Muslem Juma. The opinion documented torture, coerced confessions, unfair trials, and abusive detention conditions.
We stress that Abbas Juma and Ali Husain Matrook Abdulla, who endured beatings, slaps and blows to the head and face, verbal insults and threats of rape, remain imprisoned in Dry Dock Prison. While the other two minors were released, they received no compensation, rehabilitation, or any effective remedy for the torture and abuses they suffered.
Bahrain has failed to remedy these grave violations. Torture, coercion, and degrading detention conditions persist, and impunity remains entrenched.
We ask the Rapporteur: What steps will be taken to follow up on Bahrain’s failure to end the torture and ill-treatment of these minors, hold perpetrators accountable, and ensure full reparations for victims?
