Bahrain report: Excessive force used

MANAMA, Bahrain - With Bahrain's king watching, the chief investigator asked to investigate his government's crackdown gave a blow-by-blow reckoning Wednesday of torture, excessive force, and fast-track justice in attempts to crush the largest Arab Spring uprising in the Gulf.

Investigator Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni also said there was no evidence of Iranian links to Bahrain's Shiite-led protests. That was a clear rebuke to Gulf leaders, who accuse Tehran of playing a role in the 10-month-old showdown in the Western-allied kingdom.

The 500-page study, 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.

It also displayed a stunning image of a powerful Arab monarch facing a harsh public reckoning, as King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa listened somberly to a summary of the report's conclusions.

Bassiouni's summary read like a checklist of complaints by rights groups since February: middle-of-the-night raids to "create fear," purges from workplaces and universities, jailhouse abuses including electric shocks and beatings, and destruction of Shiite mosques that "gave the impression of collective punishment."

At least 35 people have been killed in violence related to the uprising, including members of security forces.

It appeared unlikely that even the strong criticism would satisfy opposition forces, who accused the Sunni monarchy of using all methods at its disposal to avoid sharing power with the nation's Shiite majority. Just hours before the report was released, security forces used tear gas and stun grenades in the latest clash on the strategic island, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

"What is really needed is to hold the perpetrators responsible and bring them to justice," said Khalil al-Marzooq, a senior official with the largest Shiite opposition party, which pulled out of parliament in the spring to protest the harsh tactics.

The inquest was seen as a bold step in a region of monarchs and sheikhs who rarely acknowledge shortcomings or face uncomfortable criticism in public. Bahrain's government promised "no immunity" for anyone suspected of abuses and said it would propose creating a permanent human-rights commission.

The report was highly critical of a special security court created under martial law that "overtook the national system of justice" and issued harsh sentences - including life in prison and death-row rulings - that "denied most defendants elementary fair trial guarantees."

That court has been abolished. Bassiouni urged Bahrain to review all security court verdicts and drop charges against those accused of nonviolent acts.