Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

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Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry the Gathering of National Unity made a presentation alleging false media coverage by the opposition media outlets. The title of the television programme was “Al Wefaq using the media to spread their lies”. 795 In addition, the Commission was shown a number of video clips in which Al Wasal Television depicted the leader of Al Wefaq, Mr Sheikh Ali Salman, and Mr Hassan Mushaima as devils. 796 4. Allegations of anti-government reporting that was false or biased 1607. The GoB made a number of allegations that Al-Wasat newspaper published fabricated material and false reports of the events of February/March. 797 In April 2011, the Editor-in-Chief and two other editors were charged with producing fabricated news. The GoB alleged that these charges were promulgated after the discovery of “compelling evidence of press law violations including forgery and falsification.” 798 The GoB also alleged that the editors had malicious intentions and that they sought to incite Al-Wasat readers, thereby violating article 168 of the Bahrain Penal Code and Decree No. 47 of 2002 regulating the Press and Publications. The court found them guilty of the charges and the Editor-in-Chief was forced to resign. 799 1608. In the Al Rased programme, which was broadcast on 2 April 2011, it was alleged that Al-Wasat deliberately targeted the security and stability of Bahrain by disseminating false news. The paper was accused of republishing stories from old Arabic newspapers and then falsely claiming that these events took place in Bahrain. 800 1609. The Editor-in-Chief of Al-Wasat, referred to above, publicly acknowledged that the six newspaper articles which had been identified by authorities as “false”, were misleading, but he claimed that he did not knowingly publish any false information. The Editor-in-Chief alleged that in response to the allegations, he had opened an internal investigation into the source of the false information and found that all six items had been sent as emails from different addresses, but that the emails originated from a single 795 YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Gr6n35WRw accessed 14 November 2011. 796 YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZPnXZmZikU accessed 14 November 2011. 797 The GoB alleges that Al-Wasat published articles in 2009 and 2010 which state that “the majority of naturalised people are barbarians, ignorant, naive, and they are from the mutaradia and natiha [alluding to Islamic terminology of forbidden animal meat] – and they are of Sunni or Salafi origin.” The GoB also points out that opposition activists often refer to foreigner security forces as “foreign mercenaries” and as those behind the crackdown on the protesters. The GoB ties these sentiments to the attacks on expatriates. 798 Human Rights Watch, Bahrain: Drop Charges Against Editor of Independent Daily (11 April 2011), http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/04/11/bahrain-drop-charges-against-editorindependent-daily accessed 5 November 2011. 799 Human Rights Watch, Bahrain: Drop Charges Against Editor of Independent Daily (11 April 2011), http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/04/11/bahrain-drop-charges-against-editorindependent-daily accessed 5 November 2011. 800 Al-Wasat: Critical Time to Print False News, Bahrain Views (29 June 2011), http://www.bahrainviews.com/?p=26 accessed 19 November 2011. 394
Chapter X — Allegations of Media Harassment external IP address based in a neighbouring country. It appeared that the emails were also sent to other newspapers in Bahrain, but there were small mistakes in the email addresses, which meant that Al-Wasat was the only recipient. 801 The Editor-in-Chief told the Financial Times that the allegations against Al-Wasat were part of a “sustained campaign”. 1610. The IAA submitted a file to the Commission concerning the involvement of the international media in the events of February/March 2011 in Bahrain. The IAA alleged that there was “incitement practised by some foreign media against Bahrain”. 802 The IAA also stated that the international media made factual errors when reporting on the events of February/March 2011 and that they were biased against the GoB. 803 The Bahrain News Agency also submitted a file entitled, “Examples of factual errors published/broadcast by media in covering the events in Bahrain”. 804 5. Allegations of mistreatment of foreign journalists 1611. The Commission also received allegations of mistreatment of foreigners working for national media outlets. On 3 April 2011, an Iraqi citizen working for Al-Wasat newspaper was asked to attend a meeting with the Deputy Assistant for the IAA. He stated that when he arrived for the meeting he was arrested and taken to a police station where he was interrogated. He alleged that he was physically beaten and threatened during the interrogation, and that he was then deported from Bahrain along with his family that same night. He also alleged that a travel ban was circulated to other Arab countries, as he was subsequently refused entry into Jordan and Oman. The MoI provided a statement to the Commission that the Iraqi journalist was a security risk to Bahrain. 1612. The Bahrain Press Association condemned the arrests and detention of journalists in connection with the events of February/March in Bahrain. 805 The Bahrain Press Association alleged that the arrests formed part of an organised crackdown led by the GoB against Bahraini journalists, 801 Human Rights Watch, Bahrain: Drop Charges Against Editor of Independent Daily (11 April 2011), http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/04/11/bahrain-drop-charges-against-editorindependent-daily accessed 19 November 2011. 802 The meeting took place on 19 October 2011 at the headquarters of the Bahrain Information Authority Agency. The material submitted included documents, CDs and DVDs. 803 The file contained transcripts from Aldar Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Jazeera television station, the Lebanese AlSafir newspaper, the German broadcaster Deutche Welle, the Iranian Arabic language television station Al-A’alam, Alquds Alarabi newspaper, the Lebanese television station Al-Manar, the American radio station Radio Sawa, Reuters news agency, the American television station Al-Hurra, the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper, the CNN website and the BBC website. 804 The meeting took place on 19 October 2011 at the headquarters of the Bahrain News Agency. The material submitted included documents, CDs and DVDs. The file contained transcripts from Reuters new agency, Al-Quds Alarabi newspaper, the BBC, Elaph website, the Kuwaiti newspapers Al-Jarida, Al-Dar, Al-Rai, Al-Qabas, the Lebanese Al-Akhbar, the Egyptian Al-Shorouq, Radio Monte Carlo, CNN, Al-Jazeera.net, Al-Hurra television station and Dutch Radio. 805 The Bahrain Press Association is based in London. 395
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d. Deaths of expatriate workers Rep
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Unattributed deaths Report of the B
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Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

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