To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether positive results have come from their programmes to strengthen the judiciary and to reform the security services in Bahrain; and, if such results have not yet come, when they expect to see improvements.
Answered on
3 December 2014
We judge that since 2011 a number of incremental steps have been made to strengthen the judiciary and to reform the security services in Bahrain. The UK is providing a package of technical assistance to support progress in line with the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and UN Universal Periodic Review. These include the establishment of the Ministry of Interior’s Ombudsman’s Office to receive complaints and to oversee and conduct investigations, the establishment of a Prisoners’ and Detainees’ Rights Commission and reform of the National Institute of Human Rights. The British Government continues to work closely with the Government of Bahrain to provide practical assistance in torture prevention, judicial reform, civil service capacity building and community neighbourhood policing.