Bahrain Mirror: A number of pro-government social media accounts announced the demise of the head of the General Directorate of Public Guards, Colonel Khalid Mohammed Al-Wazzan.

Al-Wazzan is notorious for being one of the main officers whose names were linked to acts of torture during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also known as the head of Al-Khamees police station, which is a security directorate that was responsible for taking on security cases in the areas at the heart of the political movement, such as Sanabes, Bilad Al-Qadeem and Jidhafs, as well as other villages. In the 1990s, Al-Wazzan was a major member of the security committee formed by the Interior Ministry for the purpose of cracking down on the uprising that erupted in December 1994.

According to testimonies by prisoners who were held during the 1990s, Al-Wazzan was certainly involved in the killing of martyr Saeed Al-Iskafi, who died as a result of torture while the Khamees police directorate was run by Al-Wazan, as well as the murder of martyr Nouh Al Nouh who was killed under torture. Al-Wazzan also took part in the torture of a number of activists, including martyr Salah Mousa who was imprisoned during the 1990s. Al-Wazzan personally tortured him and dozens of other young activists behind bars.

Martyrs Jamal Al-Osfour, Jameel Al-Ali and Saeed Al-Iskafi

He supervised the torture of political prisoners until their deaths, which included martyrs Nouh Al Nouh and Saeed Al-Iskafi, as well as the murder of martyr Nidl Al-Nashaba who was killed by a gunshot during a raid on a house where he was staying.

Martyr Nouh Al Nouh

Following the popular referendum on the National Action Charter in 2001, the Bahraini King issued Decree 56/2002, which gave officers and personnel of the security bodies immunity from legal accountability before local courts. Thus, Al-Wazzan was protected by this decree from facing any accountability for his crimes.

It is noteworthy that the last position he had occupied was heading the public guards general directorate at the Interior Ministry.

Many on social media recounted his crimes, including the torture of martyrs Jameel Al-Ali and Sheikh Jamal Al-Osfour during the 1980s.

Arabic Version