Bahrain broke 'human right promise' over 'tortured detainees'

In one case, a detainee in the report describes an officer shoving something under his nose and being told it was “the blood of people who don’t co-operate

Bahraini Muslim Shiite Women hold pictures during an anti-government rally in solidarity with a victim of torture in 2012 (Getty)

Bahrain’s 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 Navy’s 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, Bahrain’s 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 country’s 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.

The HRW report is based on testimony offered by 14 people, who describe being physically assaulted while in police or security service custody. Several quoted in the report say they suffered electric shocks and sexual abuse, while others describe being hung in painful positions or being exposed to extreme cold.

In one case, a detainee in the report describes an officer shoving something under his nose and being told it was “the blood of people who don’t co-operate”. One says officers beat his genitals with a hose and penetrated him with their fingers. Another tells HRW that officers threatened to rape his wife.

Following the 2011 protests, the government vowed to grant “no immunity” for anyone suspected of abuses. At that time, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa listened sombrely to a report issued by a government-sponsored investigator outlining how his security forces used torture and excessive force to stamp out the demonstrations.

Human Rights Watch says little has changed since then. “There have been few prosecutions relating to the serious and widespread abuses that [the investigators] documented” in 2011, the report says.

“The few that have resulted have, almost exclusively, involved low-ranking officers, and have, without exception, resulted in acquittals or disproportionately light sentences.”

AP