In November, Bahrain’s Independent Commission of Inquiry issued a report that was highly critical of the authorities’ reaction to the protests, which began in February 2011 — spurred by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
The demonstrations failed to gain the traction of other Arab Spring uprisings following a crackdown by the authorities in the island state — backed by troops from nearby Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The independent commission, set up by the king, concluded that the police had used excessive force and torture in their response to the protests in Sunni-ruled, Shiite-majority Bahrain.
Abuse of detainees in the crackdown included beatings with metal pipes and batons, and threats of rape and electrocution, according to Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, the commission chairman.
The mistreatment included physical and psychological torture, intended to extract information or to punish those held by security forces, he said.
The report recommended reforms to the country’s law and better training of its security forces, as well as other measures to .
On Tuesday, a national commission responsible for following up on those recommendations will hand its final report to the king. Bahraini officials will then hold a news conference on the report’s findings.
"I, like a good number of others, am afraid the report will say the BICI recommendations have largely been implemented, which is really not true," said Jasim Husain, a member of the opposition Wefaq Party and a former lawmaker. "Some recommendations have been implemented but some have been overlooked."
He said that some people involved in the protests had not been reinstated to their jobs, and that high-profile detainees had not been released.
Demonstrators and Bahraini authorities have continued to clash in recent months, with the opposition accusing the government of using heavy handed tactics.
