Nooh Abdulla Al Amroom was a 17-year-old Bahraini student at the time of his first arrest 2015. He was released pending trial, but re-arrested a year later on separate charges.
This information in this profile originally appeared on ADHRB’s website, our main sister organisation.
Arrest
Nooh was arrested at his house in mid-September of 2015, on charges of illegal assembly and rioting. Officers detained him for four months in pre-trial detention at New Dry Dock and was later released in January 2016 pending trial.
Further, on 11 September 2016, National Security Agency (NSA) officers arrested Nooh at the airport upon his return from a family trip to Iran. They did not present any warrant, nor did they mention the reason for his arrest. Nooh later learned from his lawyer that he was suspected of placing a fake bomb shaped like a suitcase on Zayed Street.
Nooh was authorized one phone call before the officers disappeared him for two or three days. They held him at the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID). Nooh was subjected to torture, including beating, verbal abuse, constant threats, and denial of showers and clean clothes. In addition, he remained blindfolded the entire time he was at the CID. Nooh eventually confessed to the alleged crimes. Two weeks after his arrest, the officers brought him before the Public Prosecution’s Office (PPO) without noticing his lawyer and then transferred him to New Dry Dock awaiting trial.
Bahraini authorities prevented Nooh from legal counseling during his interrogation and detention so he could not be prepared for his audience. On 29 March 2018, Nooh was convicted on charges of illegal assembly, rioting, and planting a fake explosive. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, reduced to nine years on appeal. On the same day, the judge sentenced him to an additional three months in prison for the illegal assembly and rioting charge from September 2015.
Current Situation
After the verdict, Nooh’s living condition and health deteriorated. Nooh reports that prison officers constantly harass him by mocking him for his religion, cutting off the water supply, preventing him from bathing, and instigating trouble to justify the use of solitary confinement. He states that the guards confiscated his clothes, books, and pens, and that they beat him on his head and stomach to the point that he was unable to move.
The torture Nooh endured made him suffer from eye redness, knee pain, and damaged teeth. He also has trouble sleeping because of the lack of hygiene in the prison cell and constant body pain. Prison officers regularly deny him medical care, and if he is able to attend the clinic, he is only prescribed pain killers. Nooh’s family informed the Ministry of Interior (MoI) Ombudsman of Nooh’s lack of treatment for his teeth, lack of clean water, and overcrowded cells, however, no action has been taken to resolve the situation.
He currently remains in Jau Prison.
Bahrain’s actions against Nooh Abdulla Al Amroom violate international law. His unlawful arrest and detention are in contradiction with the International Covenant and Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Bahrain adhered to. The torture allegation and unfair trial constitute also a violation of the ICCPR and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading treatment or Punishment (CAT), to which Bahrain is a party.
The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECHDR) calls upon Bahrain to uphold its human rights obligations by dropping all charges held against Nooh in light of his unfair trial, conducting any future trial against him in accordance with international law and standards. ECHDR also demand Bahrain government to take responsibility and investigate the alleged claims of torture and ill-treatment by prison officials.