Bahrain Said to Use Excessive Force and Torture in Protests.

[elleng]

Source: nyt/ap

'The head of a special commission that investigated Bahrain's unrest said Wednesday that authorities used torture and excessive force against detainees arrested in crackdowns on the largest Arab Spring uprising in the Gulf.

Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni — making the first official comments on report's findings — also said there was no evidence of Iranian links to Bahrain's Shiite-led protests in a clear rebuke Gulf leaders who accuse Tehran of playing a role in the 10-month-old showdown in the Western-allied kingdom.

The study, which was authorized by Bahrain's Sunni rulers in a bid to ease tensions, marks the most comprehensive document on security force actions during any of the revolts that have flared across the Arab world this year. . .

Investigators, however, "did not discover any role of the Iranian Islamic Republic." The finding is a sharp contrast to claims by Bahrain's leaders and Gulf allies that Shiite power Iran was linked to the protests. . .

"Some might ask why we asked a commission from outside the country ... Our answer is: Any government that has an honest desire for reform and progress should be aware of the benefit of objective, constructive criticism."'









Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/11/22/world/middleeast/AP-ML-Bahrain.html?hp

[They_Live]

1. That headline is deceptive.

It makes it sound like torture is being performed BY the protestors.