The British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been urged by humanitarian organisations to issue a correction over a “misleading” Foreign Office (FCDO) report on Bahrain, as they say it represents a “dangerous whitewash” on human rights that risks emboldening abusers in the Gulf state.
A letter to the foreign secretary, signed by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), said the report is “fraught with inaccuracies” and amounts to disinformation that could be used as propaganda by the government of Bahrain.
New figures, released through freedom of information requests, show the UK government has channelled about £13m to Bahrain over the past decade though the Gulf Strategy Fund (GSF). The signatories also expressed concern over Britain giving money to bodies involved in human rights violations through the fund, which has been repeatedly criticised by MPs for a lack of transparency.
The findings on Bahrain in the FCDO’s latest Human Rights and Democracy report 2021, which summarises the human rights climate across the world, are in stark contrast to those of human rights groups. It states: “Bahrain took positive steps in 2021.” HRW’s report for the same period found “continuing heavy repression”.
“The findings of human rights organisations directly contradict your report’s assessment of human rights in Bahrain,” the groups’ letter told Cleverly.
Jeed Basyouni, who runs Reprieve’s Middle East and north Africa team, said: “For all the lip service paid in the FCDO’s report to supposed human rights advances in Bahrain, this is still a place where torture by the security services is endemic and protesting against the regime can get you sentenced to death.
“Millions of pounds of UK taxpayer money has been spent supporting institutions that whitewash these abuses. Worse, in indulging and repeating the lie that Bahrain is engaged in meaningful human rights reform, ministers are providing diplomatic cover for continued repression.”
The groups called on the foreign secretary to freeze all assistance until independent international experts can verify the bodies being funded are no longer committing abuses.
The FCDO’s report fails to condemn violations against death row inmates, and gives unqualified praise for alternative sentencing, although its use has been discriminatory and is not for political prisoners, the letter said.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of Bird, said that by failing to mention deaths in custody of three detainees in 2021, or the torture of political prisoners, the Foreign Office has misled the public.
“If the Foreign Office don’t correct this report, despite credible evidence it is misleading, the Bahrain regime will use it as a sign of its reform, with UK backing,” said Alwadaei.
“This just adds salt to the wounds of those who have lost their beloved or who have died in prison. This is happening while the UK government continues to fund institutions which are implicated in torture and human rights abuses.”
Last October, HRW and Bird published a joint report claiming Bahrain security services supported by the UK have been accused of “serious and persistent” human rights abuses. It said people had been tortured at Bahrain’s interior ministry and that two other bodies receiving UK backing, the interior ministry’s special investigations unit and ombudsman, both failed to properly investigate the allegations, as they are obliged to do. At the time, the Bahrain embassy in London said the country had a “zero tolerance policy towards mistreatment of any kind” and had put in place human rights safeguards and checks and balances.
The FCDO’s latest report praises Bahrain for its restorative justice law for children as a “progressive step” without mentioning failures to protect key rights, the letter said. The new law increased the age of criminal responsibility to 15, but does not prohibit interrogating children without a parent or lawyer present and allows children to be detained for participating in unlicensed public gatherings.
The FCDO said: “Our 2021 Human Rights Report used a wide range of expert information to ensure a balanced account of the situation in Bahrain – highlighting areas of ongoing concern whilst recognising areas of progress. The UK opposes human rights abuses and the death penalty in all circumstances, and carries out rigorous risk assessments to ensure all work supported by the GSF meets our human rights obligations and values.
“Projects we fund in Bahrain have supported reform of the justice system, helped reduce the prison population and have contributed to raising the age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 15.”
Next week marks the 12th anniversary of the Bahrain pro-democracy uprising. An early day motion, signed by 11 MPs, including Conservative Sir Peter Bottomley, decries Bahrain’s human rights record, expresses grave concern over detention and mistreatment of political prisoners and reiterates calls for the suspension of UK support and the GSF.
This piece was updated on 13 February 2023 to include a response from the FCDO that arrived after the story was published.
