Maryam Balushi: Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed orders my torture

Maryam Balushi: Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed orders my torture

The International Centre for Justice and Human Rights received a voice recording  from the detainee Maryam Sulaiman Al-Balushi, arrested in 2005 and detained since then at Al-Wathba prison in poor conditions.

The detainee reported in the recording that she has been constantly exposed to torture and ill-treatment since her arrest.

In the recording, leaked from Al Wathba prison, the victim enumerated the violations she was subject to inside the detention center that have affected her physically and psychologically.

Maryam Al-Balushi also mentioned in the recording how she was brutally arrested by the State Security Services without a warrant, held in secret detention and interrogated for three months under torture until she was finally forced to sign written confessions.

Besides, she reported how a female torturer, named Om Hameed threatened her and laughed at her when she shared her intention to raise her case to the civil society organisations and to Mohammed Bin Zayed, claiming that Bin Zayed himself was supporting these practices.

Maryam Suleiman Al-Balushi also stated that she was prevented from walking for more than three months and denied weekly contact with her family. Against these arbitrary measures, Maryam decided to go on hunger strike.

The victim stated that she was suffering from a disease at her right eye but was denied medical attention because the doctor allegedly was in collusion with the authorities and affirmed that no treatment was needed.

Furthermore, Maryam Suleiman Al-Balushi pointed out to the fact that the violations continued inside Al-Wathba prison and that she complained more than once against her conditions, which exposed her to reprisals measures.

 

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