23/24 November 2015

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

opposition members
Bahraini detention.

Bahrain to Strip 13
Nationals of Citizenship
Over Alleged Ties With
Terror
Bahrains criminal court
has convicted 13 people of
allegedly having taken part
in a terrorist network and
revoked their citizenship,
a judge told reporters on
Monday.
MANAMA (Sputnik)
Human Rights Watch,
a rights pressure group,
published a report last
Sunday where it painted
a gruesome picture of
continued torture and
killings
of
political

Torture still happening

in Bahrain jails: HRW
Detainees were subjected
to
electric
shocks,
suspension in painful
positions, extreme cold,
and sexual abuse, says
rights report
Bahraini security forces
are torturing detainees
during interrogation as
regulatory bodies set up
after the 2011 uprising
"lack independence" and
officials are not held
accountable,
Human
Rights Watch said on
Monday.
Bahrain, a key ally of the
West, has been rocked

in

"Sixteen young men were

charged with participating
in a terrorist group and
planning murders, but
the court cleared three
of them of charges due
to lack of evidence," the
judge said.
Three men were sentenced
to 15 years in jail and
the rest were sentenced
to 10 years. They will all
have Bahraini citizenship
revoked.
The small island nation
is ruled by a Sunniminority government. It
has seen years of protests
staged by Shiite-majority
population, which often
lead to brutal crackdowns
and charges of terrorism
against key activists.

Bahrain broke 'human

right promise' over
'tortured detainees'
Bahrains security forces
tortured
detainees
in the years after the
2011 protests, despite a
government promise that
it would stop such abuses,
according to a new report
released yesterday. The
Human Rights Watch
(HRW) report on Bahrain,
home to the US Navys
5th Fleet, corresponds
with accounts of abuse
provided by Amnesty
International and local
activists. It comes as
Bahrain, which has seen
years of low-level unrest,
announced the seizure of
explosives and weapons it
links to Iran.

In a statement, Bahrains
government
said
the
country is unequivocally
opposed to mistreatment
of any kind, without
addressing the specific
torture
allegations
outlined in the report.
Large-scale
protests
erupted in Western-allied
Bahrain
in
February
2011, led by the countrys
majority Shias seeking
greater political rights
from the Sunni monarchy.
Bahraini
authorities,
backed by security forces
from Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates,
crushed the rallies, but
unrest continues.

Read more

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by an uprising since
February
2011
with
demands ranging from a
constitutional monarchy
to
overthrowing
the
ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty
altogether.
Scores of opponents have
been detained, with many
facing trial, while others
convicted of involvement
in violence have been
handed heavy sentences,
including
revoking
citizenship and life in
prison.
In its 84-page report,
HRW said it interviewed
10 detainees "who said
they endured coercive
interrogations"
by
authorities.

Read more

Bahrain Slammed By
Human Rights Watch
Over Torture Of
Detainees, Years After
2011 Revolt
Bahrain used torture
methods like electric
shocks,
beatings
and
sexual
abuse
against
detainees following a
revolt in 2011 years
after the country's ruler,
Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa,
pledged to stop such
practices, according to
a report from Human
Rights Watch.
The
report,
released
Monday, follows similar
allegations from Amnesty
International and local
activists
who
have
accused the country of
human rights violations.
The latest report, which is

based on the testimonies

of 14 people, also called
on the U.S. government
to impose restrictions
on arms sales to Bahrain
until Manama enacts
recommendations from
a
2011
report
that
acknowledges
statesponsored violence was
used to curb the protests,
the Associated Press (AP)
reported.

Read more

HRW report details

extensive torture of
Bahraini detainees
Bahrain
continues
to
torture detainees during
interrogations,
Human
Rights Watch said on
Monday, despite a pledge
by the country's king to
end the practice.

government
agencies
established by Bahrain's
King Hamad bin Isa AlKhalifa have reportedly
investigated the abuse
allegations.

Read more
Electric Shocks and
Sexual Abuse: Bahrain
Still Torturing Detainees
HRW
A leading human rights
watchdog has accused
Bahrain's security services
of torturing detainees,
including the use of
electric shocks, forced
standing techniques and
sexual abuse, with a new
report
contradicting
claims
by
Bahrain's
western allies that the
country is reforming its
security forces.

The
New
York-based
non-governmental
organization
said
in
a report that abuse of
detainees, observed by a
government commission
of inquiry after antigovernment
protests
in 2011, continue even
though
the
Bahraini
government has said it is
opposed to torture. Three
The government said the
allegations were "incorrect
and unfounded".

Bahrain security forces

'continue to torture
detainees'
Bahrain's security forces
are torturing detainees
during
interrogation,
despite a pledge by
the king to end such
practices, Human Rights
Watch says.
A new report found
abuses
in
custody
documented
by
an
independent committee
after the crackdown on
pro-democracy protests
in 2011 had continued.
It concluded that the
authorities had failed to
tackle what the committee
described as a "culture of
impunity".

Bahrain continues to
be wracked by political
unrest, with the kingdom's
Shia majority demanding
greater political rights
from
the
Sunni-led
government, and violent
attacks
blamed
on
militants linked to Iran.

Read more

Bahrain sexually
abuses detainees, still
capital of torture
despite UK support
HRW
Bahrain
has
been
torturing detainees using
electric shocks and sexual
abuse, Human Rights
Watch has found. Despite
the King of Bahrain
pledging to end such
practices, torture and
beatings remain common,
a new HRW report says.
Britain, a close ally of the
gulf monarchy, has been
arguing that Bahrain has
reformed its security
forces and is following the
recommendations of its
Independent Investigation

The report, released by

Human Rights Watch
(HRW), found that the
country's security forces
have continued with the
same forms of abuse that
the Bahrain Independent
Commission of Inquiry
(BICI) documented in
the violent crackdown on
protesters in 2011.

The 2011 BICI report

concluded
that
the
National Security Agency
and the Interior Ministry
"followed a systematic
practice
of
physical
and
psychological
mistreatment, which in
many cases amounted to
torture, with respect to a
large number of detainees
in their custody".

Read more

Commission (BICI). The

UKs policy is to support
Bahrain in its return to a
stable and reformist state
with a good human rights
record, the Foreign Office
said late last month.
However, HRW disputes
this, saying that "Bahraini
authorities have failed to
effectively implement the
BICI recommendations
for combatting torture;
that the new offices
have failed to fulfill
their mandate; and that
Bahraini security forces
continue
to
torture
detainees using methods
identical
to
those
documented by BICI
investigators in 2011, and
by Human Rights Watch
in 2010.

Read more

HRW: Bahrain tortured

protest detainees
[JURIST] Bahrain has
tortured detainees in
the years following the
country's 2011 protests
[BBC timeline], despite
a government promise to
stop such abuses, Human
Rights Watch (HRW)
[advocacy
website]
reported [HRW report]
Sunday. The report is
based
on
testimony
offered by 14 people
allegedly assaulted by the
police while in custody.
Those testifying claim
they suffered electrical
shock treatment, being
exposed
to
extreme
cold, being hung in
painful positions and
sexual abuse. Protests

Bahrain: Detainees
Tortured, Abused, Says
HRW
Bahraini security forces
are torturing detainees
during
interrogation,
Human Rights Watch
said in a report released
today. Institutions set up
after 2011 to receive and
investigate
complaints
lack independence and
transparency.
The
84-page
report,
The Blood of People
Who Dont Cooperate:
Continuing
Torture
and
Mistreatment
of
Detainees in Bahrain,
concludes that security
forces have continued

erupted in Bahrain in
February 2011, led by
Shiites seeking greater
political freedoms under
the Sunni government.
In a statement to the
Associated
Press,
Bahrain's
government
stated
[AP
report]
that the country "is
unequivocally
opposed
to mistreatment of any
kind." The government
also says that 73 security
force members have been
"transferred to courts on
charges of mistreatment."

Read more

Rights group: US ally

Bahrain continues to
torture detainees
Bahrain, a U.S. ally in the
Middle East, has failed
to curb human rights
abuses, with its security
forces
continuing
to
torture detainees during
interrogations,
Human
Rights Watch said in a
report released this week.
The
allegations
are
particularly
relevant
considering that a U.S.
decision in June to
lift a ban on security
assistance to Bahrain was
conditioned on human
rights reforms.

the same abuses the

Bahrain
Independent
Commission of Inquiry
(BICI)
documented
in its November 2011
report. The commission
was established after the
fierce repression of prodemocracy demonstrators
in February and March
of that year. Bahraini
authorities have failed
to implement effectively
the
commissions
recommendations relating
to torture, Human Rights
Watch found.

Read more

Based on interviews with

10 detainees, the HRW
report chronicles alleged
mistreatment and torture
by security forces who
reportedly
subjected
detainees
to
electric
shocks, forced standing,
extreme cold and sexual
abuse.
Bahrains human rights
record came under a
spotlight in 2011 when
largely peaceful Arab
Spring
demonstrations
were met with lethal force
by authorities. Twenty
protesters
died, and more than
1,600
were
arrested
most of them held
incommunicado for weeks
or in some cases months,
according to HRW.

Read more