Bahrain report confirms rights abuses

Bahrain report confirms rights abuses

A special commission in Bahrain has said authorities used torture and excessive force against detainees arrested in a crackdown earlier this year.

The comments by the head of the commission, Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, were the first details from a highly anticipated report released on Wednesday on the measures used against mainly Shia Muslim-led demonstrators seeking greater rights from Bahrain's Sunni monarchy.

Human right abuse

Bassiouni's summary suggested the report would be highly critical of officials in Bahrain, which is the home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet. The investigation, authorised by Bahrain's rulers, was based on more than 5,000 interviews.

In a statement responding to the inquiry, Bahrain's government said the report showed that five detainees had died due to torture. The government said the inquiry also showed abuses were not a result of official policy.

"Regrettably the report confirms that there have been instances of excessive forces and mistreatment of detainees, as well as five deaths as a result of torture," it said, adding: "The report does not confirm that there was a government policy of torture, mistreatment or using excessive force."

Justice

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain said that officials involved in the abuses would be held accountable and replaced.
 
"We must reform our laws to bring them in line with international standards," King Hamad added.

Hours before the the report was published, police in Bahrain clashed with protesters, firing teargas and raiding a makeshift clinic.

Clashes were taking place in A'ali, about 30km south of the capital Manama, after officers allegedly ran a driver off the road.

Al Jazeera reports that police in A’ali, had used tear gas and sound bombs against the protesters.

According to the report, police also raided a makeshift clinic and arrested a number of people.

Bahrain's government has already admitted using excessive force against protesters before the release of the report on Wednesday, in what some analysts says is an attempt to control its possible fallout.

Opposition leaders have called for protests to coincide with the report’s release.

Many have said the report will not lead to political reconciliation unless it faults senior officials, and the government follows it with a major concession, such as a general amnesty.

Critics say many Bahrainis do not trust the official report because of statements made by Bassiouni, the Egyptian judge who chairs the commission.

'Systematic policy'
King Hamad established a five-member commission in June to investigate "whether the events of February, March 2011 and thereafter involved violations of international human rights law and norms".

At least 35 people have been killed in this year's violence, with hundreds more wounded and detained. The commission's final report was originally scheduled for release in late October. The government is hoping to capitalise on the report to improve its image.

Journalists have recently been welcomed back into the country after months of restrictions, and the government announced on Monday that all forms of torture would be illegal, with more stringent penalties for those who commit them.

Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, praised the government’s move to ban torture, but argued that the report would limit itself to a handful of low-level targets.

Bassiouni said in August that there was no evidence of routine torture in Bahrain. He backtracked on these comments earlier this month, telling the Egyptian daily, Al-Masry Al-Youm, that it was, in fact, a "systematic policy".

AlJazeera/Williams