The Minister of Interior last week met a delegation from Human Rights Watch to Bahrain, including Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the NGO’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) division and Jan Egeland, Europe Director. Chief of Police Major-General Tariq Al Hassan, advisor John Timoney and senior Interior Ministry officials also attended the meeting.
The Ministry had arranged visits for Human Rights Watch’s representatives to Jaww Prison, which opportunity they took, and to police stations and temporary detention facilities, which they did not. The delegation was provided free and private access to detainees and permitted photography in the prison on condition that the pictures be used for human rights research only, and not be published or used for any other purpose that contravenes Bahraini law.
On the last day of their visit on 28 February 2013, Human Rights Watch’s representatives released a press statement making various allegations against the Ministry, based on what the delegation claims it was informed at the meeting. They also published photographs from their visit to the prison, contravening privacy and security conditions, including under the law.
The press statement released by Human Rights Watch’s staff contradicts itself, it is wrong as regards certain important facts, including through incorrectly representing or quoting the remarks of officials, and it ignores the significant reforms that have taken place in the Ministry since the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI).
It was apparent at the meeting with the Ministry that Human Rights Watch’s representatives had done little or no work beforehand to fully assimilate the BICI Report, much less to ascertain or understand the changes within the Ministry and the reforms undertaken by the government of Bahrain since BICI. They were even unaware of basic changes such as the appointment of a new Chief of Police in 2011. The delegation spent almost the entire meeting making provocative, accusatory remarks, and disregarding information provided by the most senior officials, including a presentation made by the Chief of Police.
Their unsupported allegations included suggesting that the Ministry has ‘done nothing’ by way of reform in the last two years, notwithstanding a full briefing having being provided on the five BICI recommendations that concern the Ministry. Many of the Ministry’s reforms surpass BICI, and full details are available on the Police Media Centre website.
Allegations were also made about a lack of accountability at the Ministry. Following the unrest in 2011, a number of internal investigations were conducted, and certain high- and low-ranking police personnel were found to have acted contrary to written and verbal orders and rules on the use of force, which were clearly set out under Bahraini law. This was also found by BICI which, following an unsurpassed investigation, reported:
“The available evidence and the progression of events … do not indicate that orders were issued to the police to use lethal force against demonstrators”, but rather faulted “inadequate training of field units, ineffectual command and control systems and, at times, insufficient numbers of police to handle demonstrators.” (660).
It is evident that the Human Rights Watch representatives who came to Bahrain have failed to grasp the difference between a systems failure and individuals acting with specific orders from superiors. No matter what system is in place, anywhere in the world, individual police officers may act contrary to policy or law. In those situations, these transgressions must be addressed and, in Bahrain, the Public Prosecutor is currently investigating criminal transgressions, while the new Police Ombudsman will now oversee all allegations of police misconduct.
The public statement of Human Rights Watch’s representatives further disregards information that is publicly available. It ignores the process presently in place in which dozens of cases involving over 100 police personnel, up to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, are being investigated by the Public Prosecutor. Moreover, it fails to acknowledge the policy of the Ministry regarding improper use of force, including excessive teargas. The Ministry has clear rules and guidelines concerning the use of weapons and the use of proportionate and necessary force. Whenever allegations of misconduct are made from an individual or via social media, an investigation is conducted and discipline is administered where warranted. The statement’s acknowledgement that two police officers were recently taken into custody following reports of an incident is evidence of this very policy working in practice.
Finally, at the meeting, the Ministry also rejected the delegation’s inaccurate assertion that Bahraini police officers do not receive full and certified law enforcement training. A wide-ranging curriculum for police recruits and current officers is in place, and this aspect has received recognition from visiting human rights experts including more recently the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Accusing the Ministry of ‘doing nothing’ to implement reforms is simply wrong. The Ministry of Interior is disappointed and saddened by the unsupported accusatory statements made by Human Rights Watch’s representatives at the meeting and in their statement released during their visit. It is apparent from their conduct that minds were made up prior to their arrival in Bahrain. This proved to not be a neutral fact finding mission but a political action. It is not the first time that Human Rights Watch has failed to apply its professed high standards of objectivity and completeness: on a prior occasion, a Human Rights Watch representative admitted to the Ministry of Interior that he had completed writing his report on Bahrain before arriving in Bahrain and was simply there for the formality.
“Human rights organizations and NGOs perform a valuable function in helping governments in their efforts toward reform, because they act responsibly and provide neutral observations and because they are not political actors,” the official statement of the Ministry said.
The Ministry of Interior has met and engaged with 11 other international organisations concerned with human rights over the last year, and looks forward to continuing its policy of constructive engagement.