Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Chapter VI — Allegations of Human Rights Violations Against the Person
Military Attorney General have been able to provide an explanation as to why
some persons were arrested pursuant to the National Safety Decree and others
pursuant to the Code of Criminal Procedure. The 179 cases of arrest officially
performed by the NSA were all conducted pursuant to the National Safety
Decree.
1176. With respect to arrests performed by the MoI pursuant to the Code of
Criminal Procedure, the records provided to the Commission reveal that arrest
warrants were contained in the judicial records of the persons who subsequent
to their arrest were charged with crimes. However, in none of the cases
investigated were these warrants shown to the arrested persons, nor is there
any record that security forces followed the requirements of the Code of
Criminal Procedure subsequent to the first 48 hours of arrest, as described
above.
1177. The MoI and NSA advised the Commission that that they had
appropriate procedures in place to deal with arrests, including situations where
family members are present in the course of an arrest. The Commission was
not given a copy of these procedures. Assuming that such procedures existed,
and in the light of the overwhelming evidence of abuse that was inflicted, it is
clear that they were not followed.
1178. In conclusion, the Commission finds that a substantial number of the
arrests made pursuant to the pattern described above violated international
human rights law and Bahrain law. In particular, security forces carried out
the arrests without presenting an arrest or search warrant. The Commission
finds that in many cases, the manner in which the arrest was performed
involved unnecessary excessive force, accompanied by terror-inspiring
behaviour on the part of the security forces in addition to unnecessary damage
to property. All of these factors reveal a failure to follow the appropriate
procedures identified by the MoI and NSA. In regard to the seizure of items
in connection to arrest, the agencies involved did not provide any records of
the seized items. The Commission investigators were also not informed of
any investigation commenced by the respective agencies on the basis of
complaints by the persons arrested or members of their families. This
evidences a pattern of disregard for violations of any procedures that may
have existed as well as disregard for Bahrain law and international human
rights law pertaining to fairness and due process in connection with arrests.
1179. Furthermore, the very fact that a systematic pattern of behaviour
existed indicates that this is how these security forces were trained and how
they were expected to act. This could not have happened without the
knowledge of higher echelons of the command structure of the MoI and NSA.
1180. The failure to investigate these practices effectively, and the failure to
take adequate measures to prevent violations by security forces, could
constitute the basis for superior responsibility.
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