Forensic expert undercover in Bahrain finds evidence of government torture: Report

GlobalPost

A Turkish forensic specialist disguised as a tourist conducted an undercover autopsy on a young Bahraini and has reportedly found evidence of government torture, according to an exclusive report by Turkey's Hurriyet News

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There was no immediate independent verification of the report. 

Hurriyet said Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı examined the body of Yousef Mowali, 23, whose corpse was found in the ocean not far from his home last January. Fincancı reportedly found signs that he had been electrically tortured.  

The young man, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, is believed to have been detained by government forces during a walk and was later found dead. 

His family wanted a second autopsy after a state doctor ruled that he had drowned and said there was no evidence of violence, according to Hurriyet

Activists helped the family work with the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims to arrange the undercover trip by Fincancı, the head of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, said Hurriyet

"I wore a long dress and hijab in order to look like a relative of the family who was visiting to express condolences," Fincanci told Hurriyet. "There were several police outside the place of the funeral but they were not suspicious of me, because they were probably expecting a man and a European."

She has returned to Turkey with tissue samples, according to the report. It was not immediately clear how or if she was able to verify the electronic abuse was the work of the authorities. 

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