National Institution for Human Rights – Kingdom of Bahrain
the ordinary courts. The Supreme Judicial Council formed a judicial commission to
review all decisions rendered by national safety courts. This required conducting retrial for 135 cases, among 165 cases in which final decisions have been rendered.
7. In compliance with the Recommendation No. (1722/g), which states as follows:
“There should be audiovisual recording for all formal interviews with the arrested
persons”, the Ministry of Interior issued an order for taking the necessary steps in
this regard. The General Directorate of Investigations and Criminal Evidence, as well
as police departments and their affiliated centers, were provided with 26 audiovisual
recording rooms. 18 other rooms were also prepared for interviews with the detainee
lawyers to ensure complete confidentiality.
8. However, despite these measures taken, the right to enjoy the guarantees of a fair trial
is still vulnerable to abuse by some of the competent authorities, represented by the
Ministry of Interior, the Information Affairs Authority, and the Public Prosecution,
which prejudice the essence of these guarantees prescribed in the Constitution.
These violations include the repeated publication of the names and pictures of
the defendants in the official media and some local daily newspapers, in blatant
violation of the principle of the presumption of innocence, and which prejudices
the human dignity of the accused. The international human rights instruments
conclusively provide that law enforcement officers, or even the public authorities in
the state, whether in the evidence collection stage, pre-trial investigation, or during
the hearings before the courts, should not express their views publicly regarding the
charge of the accused before the court reaches a final judgment in the case. Instead,
these authorities should be prevented from raising prior suspicions about people
who belong to a particular racial, ethnic or sectarian group. This is because such
publication and raising suspicions have a direct impact on the public opinion, which
may generate a conviction that could be adopted by the court before which the case
is brought.
9. In view of the violation of the principle of presumption of innocence observed by
NIHR, two statements were released on two separate incidents, in which NIHR
reaffirmed its categorical rejection of the repeated publication of photographs and
names of the accused persons in various cases. The first statement was released on
February 20, 2013, concerning the publication of the names and photographs of the
defendants in the case known as the (Cell), while the second statement was released
on June 13, 2013 on the publication of the names and photographs of the defendants
in the case known as (February 14 Case).
10. NIHR notes, based on the complaints it received, or through the monitoring process,
that some law enforcement officers did not comply with the legal procedures
governing the process of arrest, searching and entering homes, which requires
a warrant issued by the competent authorities that has to be presented before
commencing the process. These are pre-trial guarantees, which have an impact on
the validity of subsequent actions. These guarantee fall within the implementation
of Recommendation No. (1722 / D) of the report of BICI, which acknowledged that
“The arrested person should review the arrest warrant, and he may not be detained
or deprived of communication with others”.
11. NIHR affirms the right of the accused to communicate with the outside world,
including the appointment of a lawyer of his choice to protect his rights and help
him on his defense. This is an inherent right that should be made available to the
accused, right from the evidence collection stage, until pre-trial investigation, and
up to the trial stage. The counsel assistance should even extend after the trial period.
In addition, it is not enough for the authorities to provide the right to contact a
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