Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Public Security Chief, Major-General Tariq Al-Hassan said that Bahrain has denied the UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez a visit to the kingdom due to his "biased thoughts".

Al-Hassan added in comments he made during the exhibition organized by the Ministry of Interior on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue that Mendez issued "prospective statements," pointing out that what was circulated about Jaw prison's violations "has nothing to do with reality and all the injured during those incidents were policemen." "Only one prisoner was injured," he claimed.

Al-Hassan further stated that Mendez "issued statements that reflect wrongful allegations before coming to the Kingdom and witnessing what is happening on the ground. This proves that he is being biased to a point of view and is lacking impartiality."

It is noteworthy that Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture has submitted a request to visit Bahrain since 2011. The Bahraini authorities; however, delayed his visit multiple times and also ignored the issue later on. This is considered the first statement of its kind on the official level in terms of disclosing the reason behind preventing Mendez's visit.

The United Nations and international human rights organizations severely criticized Bahrain after it clamped down on the wide Shiite protests in March 2011.

Arabic Issue