Sayed Mohammed Al-Mousawi

The Arrest and Enforced Disappearance

Sayed Mohammed Al-Mousawi was arrested on 19 March 2026 at a checkpoint near Samaheej in Muharraq Governorate, Bahrain. He was traveling in a car with Sayed Ahmed Al-Mousawi and Mostafa Yousef; a second car carrying Ali Gharib, Ali Ishaq, and Ammar Hafez was stopped at the same time. Uniformed police and officers in civilian vehicles detained all six men.

The families were not notified. On 20 March, relatives filed a report at Samaheej Police Station asking for information about the detainees. Officers at the station denied any knowledge of their whereabouts or the fact of their detention. The families returned on 23 March with the same question and received the same answer: no record, no information.

On 26 March, a representative of the Ministry of Interior called the families and asked whether the detainees had returned home or whether the families knew where they were. The question revealed that, one week after the arrest, the state was either unwilling or unable to account for the men it had taken into custody.

Death Under Torture

In the early morning of 27 March 2026, the family of Sayed Mohammed Al-Mousawi received a call from the military hospital in Manama instructing them to come to the facility. When they arrived, they were directed to the morgue and given his body.

Signs of torture were visible across multiple parts of his body. The death certificate, issued by the Ministry of Health, recorded the time of death as 02:27 on 27 March and attributed it to circulatory failure. No autopsy was conducted. No official explanation was provided for the injuries documented by the family.

Testimony from sources with knowledge of the case indicates that Al-Mousawi and the other detainees were held and tortured by the National Intelligence Service. They were not charged with any offense during the period of their detention, were not brought before the Public Prosecution, and were not given access to legal counsel.

Official Statements and Charges

On 28 March 2026, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement confirming that Al-Mousawi had been detained by the National Intelligence Service in connection with allegations of collaboration with and transfer of information to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. No evidence was presented, no charges were filed, and no judicial process had begun before his death.

The statement came one day after his family collected his body from the morgue. It followed a pattern established in preceding weeks, during which the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecution announced the arrest of hundreds of individuals on charges including filming in support of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, alleged collaboration with Iranian entities, and other accusations disseminated in state-controlled media before any court proceedings.

Legal and International Context

The death of Sayed Mohammed Al-Mousawi occurred less than six months after the United Nations Committee Against Torture issued concluding observations on Bahrain's compliance with the Convention Against Torture. The Committee called on the Government of Bahrain to cease the practice of torture, develop effective prevention mechanisms, ensure accountability for perpetrators, and provide redress to victims.

The Bahraini Constitution prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Bahrain is a state party to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The killing of a person in detention as a result of torture constitutes a grave violation of international law.

No independent investigation has been announced. No official has been held accountable. The fate and whereabouts of the five other men arrested with Al-Mousawi remain unknown.