Help-me Plea

The plea was made by Juma Mohammed Abdul Latif Al Dossary in a letter to Bahrain Centre for Human Rights president Nabeel Rajab.

In his letter, Mr Al Dossary also said that accounts of his torture in the Afghanistan detention centre and Guantanamo Bay were only some of the hardships he had faced while he was under US custody.

The GDN had published the torture allegations stated in a report conducted by Mr Al Dossary's legal team, headed by attorney Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, during its visit to the security camp last October.

The reports of the detainee's account alleged that he was urinated on by US soldiers, had cigarettes put out on him and was made to walk on a barbed wire. He also claimed that he was made to observe a couple having sex in an adjacent room, wrapped in American and Israeli flags and was severely beaten until he lost consciousness.

Other reports revealed that he allegedly had a soldier's boot put in his mouth, was beaten so severely by US soldiers that he vomited blood, had tea poured over his head and was given electric shocks during interrogation.

However, Mr Al Dossary said in his letter that these accounts did not cover all the hardships that he had suffered.

"But it was very little from so much and what had happened was worse than I could mention."

Mr Al Dossary called on rights activists to continue their efforts to ensure the release of the detainees from the security camp. "I urge you to continue supporting our case, help us as much as possible and to continue to follow up our case with Joshua Colangelo-Bryan," he wrote.

He thanked Mr Rajab for all the efforts exerted by him and the centre so far in resolving the case of the detainees.

The envelope of Mr Al Dossary's letter was dated June 10 but was received only yesterday.

Mr Rajab said the letter was an incentive for his centre to exert further efforts, work faster and be more committed to the case.

Stressed

Commenting on the GDN's Saturday report that at least two Bahrainis could be among the detainees who have been on hunger strike at the camp, he said the centre would follow up the issue with the Bahrain government.

Mr Al Dossary and Essa Al Murbati are suspected to have taken part in the July hunger strike, according to their lawyer Mr Colangelo-Bryan.

"We expected that they would be on a hunger strike since they are emotionally stressed and have given up hope," he said.

The other three detainees are Salah Abdul Rasool Al Blooshi, Adel Kamel Hajee, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Abdulla Majid Al Naimi.