Prior to the introduction.. Prior
to the interview
Dear Minister of Interior Shaikh
Rashid bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa
Greetings,
Below is my interview with a
Bahraini citizen descending from a respectable, religious family. She is at the
same age as your daughters. To you I dedicate this interview.
I would like you to know, if you
haven’t already known, what your riot police do, those who you referred to as
your “brothers”, said that they were eloquent, mentioned that they abide by the
law, and praised their efforts in serving people. I want you to see how
people’s chastity was humiliated and their dignity was trampled in your jails
with the help of your personnel.
This interview will be held
against you, not in front of people or the court but in front of our creator on
judgment day, where Zahra and scores of other detainees in your jails will ask
Allah: Where is my right?
I know that what will NOT be
said is more than what will be said.
Regards,
Lamees Dhaif
*********************************************************
Zahra Al-Shaikh in her first
interview following her release:
He put his hand on my breast.. so
I bit him!
“I admitted to the persecution, I didn’t deny.. why should I
deny? I was defending myself.”
She said with the voice and spontaneity of a thirteen year
old girl. At first, this young lady surprised me with her innocence, but when I
interviewed her, she surprised me with her logic and strength.
This is Zahra Al-Shaikh, a university student majoring in
Media who was arrested lately. Her case has created quite a stir in social
media. She was released but her trial is still ongoing in court. I was keen to
interview her and share her agony with the world because I feel guilty for not
covering her story earlier.
I asked her:”Are you sure you want to speak up? Don’t you
fear their retaliation?”
“I want everyone to know the truth, no matter how painful,
insulting, and degrading it might be. I have to speak”
On the Ominous Day
-“Why did they choose you in particular? Why didn’t they
target anyone else in the march?”
-“There was no march. When I reached there, the riot police
have dispersed a gathering called for by AlWefaq. The place was empty except
for tens of police cars and a few of the rioting crowd. I was gonna go back but
then decided to photograph the riot police while they perform their duty.
Aren’t they proud of what they do? I managed to take a few shots and I thought
that no one had noticed me until I glimpsed Captain Ghazi Al-Eesan approaching
me. I came to know his name later of course. I ran to my car, but he stopped me
near it and addressed me by my name. He asked me to give him my ID card, pushed
me violently, and pulled away my university ID that was dangling from my car’s
mirror.”
-“Why didn’t you give him your card?”
-“He scared me & didn’t give me a chance to think when
he surrounded me. But I ran after him when he walked away with my university ID
because I had an exam two days later and I would have not been able to sit for
it without the ID. When he ignored me, I pulled the tip of his sleeve. He
turned to me, and without thinking he called the police. They attacked me. One
of them placed his hand on my breast so I bit him to remove it. Here the Captain
ordered them to handcuff me.”
Her voice suddenly got louder as she evoked and then
narrated her experiences in detention:
“They pulled me into the police car. I began to scream and
cry out of pain. I begged them to open the handcuffs which were so tight that
blood clotted in my veins. One of the police held a pepper spray next to my
face. “Shut up or I’ll spray you” he said. His breath intoxicated my body.”
In the police station.. a place
where law does not exist
- What happened next?
- “They took me to the Exhibition Center police station
where they interrogated my friend and left me until the women’s shift was over
and then they took me to Captain Ghazi who seemed like a different person. We
had the following conversation:”
- Zahra you didn’t do anything and we apologize for what the
police had done to you.. “I will show you what I will do to him” he said. We
will release you today but we need a favor: testify that Nabeel Rajab asked you
to woo Rashid Al-Jowder and take the photos from him.
-“Who?” I asked
- Rashid who was naked in the photos distributed on social
media.
- But I do not know Rashid in the first place and Nabeel
Rajab did not ask me to do anything.
- “I know.. I know” said Ghazi, “it’s a favor, after which
you will be released”
- No, I said firmly, I won’t harm someone who serves us.
- He thought for a while then said “Then say it was Yousif
AlMuhaftha or Naji Fateel”
- Who? I don’t know any of them and I will not accuse any
innocent person.
- It’s not worth all the torture and humiliation. I want your
best interest, then in a whispering voice he said, “I will give you an hour to
think”
- Not one hour nor two days, I said firmly. I will not admit
what I do not know.
I asked her: “How did you get the courage, Zahra, to
challenge the Captain this way?”
- I don’t know but I felt that Satan is bargaining with me
and I had to refuse all his offers. What I had never predicted took place, Lamees.
He called upon the Pakistani police who were outside: “Strip her naked!”
- I did not believe they were stripping my clothes. I expected
them to beat me with rubber hoses, hang me, or burn my body like they do with
other detainees. I had never imagined nor expected them to remove my clothes
one piece after another.
Did you hear that, Minister of
Interior?
They stripped her naked, your
Excellency.
- Was there any female police officers with you at that
time?
- I wish, just those “wolves” and myself.
- They claim that female police have to be present during
any investigation with lady detainees.
- In the fantasy world, she said sarcastically.
- What happened next?
- The Captain approached me with a long, thick stick and
shouted at me:
- I will place this in “….” If you do not listen to me.
- I screamed with anger, and there was a metal closet on my
right. I pointed at it and told him “See this closet… even if you put it… I will not do what you want”
He raised his hand and slapped me with all his might, a slap
that lifted me off the floor. I didn’t fall, however, because they were holding
me from every side. I found myself amidst repetitive kicks and slaps from the
police. I was surrounded by them in that tiny room. I did not get hurt from
their beatings as much as I was hurt from the way they stared at my body.
Minister of Interior: Have you
heard, your Excellency?
This is an indecent assault that
is criminalized by all religions, Minister of Interior.
I was arrested at 4 pm and taken to the women’s prison at 4
am during which I didn’t even get water to drink. The female police were
surprised that I was taken there at this time.
- I do not want to imagine the state you were in. I’m sure
you were in a state of shock, horrified, and probably crying constantly.
- “Not at all”, she said. During that night, my mind went
blank. I did not think of prison, what went on in the interrogation, or in my
mum who did not know where I am, and I was not allowed to call her either. I
did not think about anything except my exam that was going to be held after two
days.
- Shockingly, I said,”How come?”
- “Yes, I broke down after a few days. But at that night I
couldn’t think of anything. It was like I was semi-conscious; half of me in a
nightmare while the other half is myself. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She said.
- I totally understand.
- Next day Captain Fareeda was surprised when I told her
that I wanted to study for my exam. She was kind with me, probably because she
pitied my young age. I asked them to bring my books, and she provided me with a
corner to study. Some of the female police officers are kind and merciful while
others were aggressive and tend to humiliate prisoners.
-Do you know they strip us naked whenever they take us to
the interrogation, although we are with them?! They separate our legs and
examine us shamelessly. If the walls of the prison had the chance to speak up,
they would have recited the atrocities taking place behind them.
Did you hear that, your
Excellency?
In the Public Prosecution
- On the day of my exam they took me to the public
prosecution.
- Who interrogated you?
- I do not know his name.
- Ok, go on.
- I explained why I bit the policeman. I told them what
happened and what they did with me. A member of the police, Maryam Al-Ahmed,
who escorted me tried to influence his decision and prevent me from talking.
But the interrogator reprimanded her and said: Don’t interfere with the Public
Prosecution’s work. I was released on bail, BD 50, and they agreed to take me
to my exam.
- “You talked to him about the exam?”, I said jokingly.
- I know this sounds strange but the exam was the only thing
on my mind and it was the reason behind my crying.
- It’s one of the tricks of the human mind; it escapes the devastating
pain by engaging itself in an idea that doesn’t cause as much pain.
- Really? May be.. because if I were to think about my
chastity, my torment from the beatings, or my sick mother I would’ve died.
- Why weren’t you released on that day, then?
- In the police car, Maryam made several phone calls. I
heard her say:”Do something, the prosecutor had released her.” I never imagined
that the decision can be disabled. When we returned to the police station and
while my sister was completing the release procedures and paying the bail, one
of the female police approached us, threw the money in our faces, and say: “The
prosecution’s decision was wrong, you won’t be released!”
- I cried like I have never cried before. I told them:
“Imprison me all my life but allow me to sit for the exam”.
- Surprisingly the officer extended her leg in front of me
and said:”Kiss my feet and I will allow you to do the test”. I was crying, but
suddenly I burst laughing. I don’t know how a person can cry and laugh at the
same time, but this is what happened to me.
Minister of Interior: Did you
see the ill treatment of your “brothers” towards the detainees?
A new chapter of horror &
Al-Jowder
Handcuffed and blindfolded, I was taken outside Exhibition
Center and beaten in order to confess against Nabeel Rajab and Yousif
AlMuhaftha. They threatened me with family members. I heard them say his name
while he was stepping on my stomach to the extent that I couldn’t breathe. It
was Rashid Al-Jowder, I memorized his voice and later on I recognized him when
I saw him in one of the torture sessions from the pictures that were available
on social media. I cannot remember what happened next because I woke up in the
hospital.
The nervous breakdown & the
drugs
They took me to the fort’s hospital every night. I only
spent two nights at the prison without going to the hospital. My blood pressure
increased dramatically each night, may be because I wasn’t crying. They gave me
pills that caused nausea so I stopped taking them.
One night I started to scream hysterically and did not stop.
All the inmates woke up because of my screams and they told me later what I said.
I was begging them not to take me to Rashid Al-Jowder or anyone who would touch
me!
Did you hear that Minister of
Interior?
I know you did.
When I was released I threw myself in my mother’s arms. I
didn’t care about anything else. I smiled.. something I could not have done in
jail.
Zahra told me that she is still steadfast and she asked me
whether I was too.
This was my interview with
Zahra, your Excellency, a lady as young as your daughters.
What do you think of her
experience? Or are we a different type of people for you to really care about?
What do you think of your personnel’s, or “brothers’ ” as you address them,
behavior inside your jails?
Abu Dhabi- Over a year has gone by since the beginning of the Bahraini uprising, pitting a Shia-led opposition calling for democratic reforms against the Sunni Khalifa monarchy. The intervention of Gulf Cooperation Council troops sent many activists such as Lameess Dhaif fleeing the country. NOW Lebanon speaks with the young activist about exile, the strength of the opposition’s movement, and threats to their cause.
How did you join the ranks of the opposition movement?
