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Bahrain Internal Security
The Bahraini national police force was believed by most
sources to number about 2,000 in 1992. In addition to the
usual
police functions, the mission of the force is to prevent
sectarian violence and terrorist actions. Bahrain has a
high
proportion of native Shia, possibly 65 to 70 percent of
the
population. Iran tried to fuel existing resentment over
the
inferior place of Shia in the social and economic
structure. The
government sought to moderate the socioreligious cleavage
by
appointing Shia to a number of cabinet posts and senior
civil
service posts, although generally not in security-related
positions. A failed coup d'état against the Al Khalifa in
1981
resulted in the expulsion or trial of many Shia
dissidents; Iran
had armed and trained most of those convicted. A number of
persons were arrested in 1987 in another plot linked to
Iran. In
1989 twenty-two persons were sentenced to prison by the
Supreme
Court of Appeal, sitting as the Security Court, for
plotting to
overthrow the government; no claim was made of Iranian
involvement.
Two clandestine political groups with ties to Iran are
active
in Bahrain. The Islamic Front for the Liberation of
Bahrain,
which was responsible for the 1981 coup attempt, consists
of
militant Shia calling for violent revolution. The Islamic
Call
Party, which also has ties to Iran, is more moderate,
calling for
social and economic reforms. Two secular leftist groups
with ties
to Arab regimes and Arab nationalist organizations are the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain and the
National
Front for the Liberation of Bahrain. Their influence
appeared to
be on the decline as of early 1993. The agencies of the
Ministry
of Interior, the police force, and the Security and
Intelligence
Service (SIS) maintain strict control over political
activity. It
is thought that their operations are extensive and highly
effective. Detention and arrest can result from actions
construed
as antiregime activity, such as membership in illegal
organizations, antigovernment demonstrations, possession
or
circulation of antiregime writings, or preaching sermons
of a
radical or extreme Islamist tone. The Department of State
reported some loosening of controls in 1991 over actions
previously regarded as subversive, reflecting the
government's
assessment that domestic and foreign threats to its
security had
receded.
Under the State Security Act of 1974, persons can be
detained
for up to three years, with a right of appeal after a
period of
three months and thereafter every six months. Arrested
persons
tried in ordinary criminal courts are provided the usual
guarantees, such as public trials, the right to counsel
(including legal aid if needed), and the right of appeal.
Prisoners charged with security offenses are tried
directly by
the Supreme Court of Appeal, sitting as the Security
Court. The
procedural guarantees of the penal code do not apply:
proceedings
are in secret, and there is no right of judicial appeal,
although
cases can be referred to the amir for clemency.
According to Department of State human rights studies,
there
have been credible reports that the SIS engages in torture
and
mistreatment of detainees. Convictions in some cases have
been
based only on confessions that allegedly have been
extracted by
torture. There were, however, no confirmed cases of
torture in
1991. The independent human rights group Amnesty
International
claimed that as of 1992 about seventy political prisoners,
many
with ties to banned Islamic groups, were serving sentences
after
unfair trials. Between 220 and 270 people were held in
Bahraini
jails in 1992. Of these, fewer than 100 were thought to be
serving sentences for security offenses.
Data as of January 1993
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