Through its official news agency, the regime dismissed the report’s findings claiming that it was compiled by “three anonymous and imaginary human rights organizations”.
The report, dubbed Chambers of Death, was released by the Persian Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (GIDHR), the Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) and Salam for Democracy and Human Rights on August 22 before being widely circulated by mainstream media outlets, including Reuters and The New York Times.
But Manama’s displeasure with the negative media attention focused on Qatar’s Al Jazeera news network, which it accused of being “part of the historic Qatari conspiracy against Bahrain”.
Prominent human rights activist and the Vice President of Salam, Sayed Yousif Almuhafdah, explains why Manama’s reaction was to be expected.
“The report about the national security apparatus carries two messages,” Almuhafdah tweeted. “The first is to the apparatus; we will continue to expose you and legally pursue you. The second is an invitation to undocumented victims to come forward.”
“The publishing of the report over the crimes of the National Security Apparatus is the first step of documentation, which will also serve as a reference. Then it will be followed by human rights and legal steps at the international level,” he added.
The report names both the victims and the perpetrators behind the NSA’s systematic use of torture against Bahrain’s human rights defenders, opposition figures and social activists.
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