Bahrain Mirror: UK-based newspaper The Guardian highlighted the criticism addressed by Amnesty International to UK ministers, who according to the organization, "act as ‘overexcited cheerleaders' for ‘woefully inadequate' reforms".

These Amnesty International remarks come ahead of an expected visit next month by Theresa May on the sidelines of the annual Gulf Cooperation Council summit, The Guardian reported. )

The newspaper's diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, wrote that "There is controversy over the value and independence of two UK-supported human rights institutions (...) The bodies, the ombudsman of the ministry of interior and the special investigations unit within the public prosecution, were established in 2012 following a fierce crackdown by the Bahraini government on protests the previous year."

In this context, Wintour added that "The Foreign Office said the two institutions show the government in Manama is willing to respond to western pressure."

On its part, Amnesty international, based on 90 interviews with Bahraini human rights activists, said in its report that "it is "utterly disingenuous" of the British government to pretend it is delivering substantial human rights reform in Bahrain," indicating that "no senior officers or officials who oversaw the serious human rights violations during the 2011 uprising have faced prosecution."

The international human rights watchdog called on the UK government to take action and asserted that "instead of acting as overexcited cheerleaders for Bahrain's woefully inadequate reforms, UK ministers ought to be confronting the awkward reality that these UK-backed institutions are seriously flawed and widely seen as a PR tool of the Bahraini government."

Arabic Version