Bahrain Mirror: Human Rights Watch criticized Bahraini government's approach to adopt a law enabling military courts to try civilians, considering it a violation of international fair trial standards.

The organization said in a statement on Thursday (February 23, 2017) that an explanatory note on the proposed amendment cites the "spread of terrorism in the region" and military courts' "flexibility" and "speed" in investigating and sentencing.

HRW has documented persistent and systematic fair trial violations in trials of political dissidents in Bahrain before both civilian and military courts.

"Bahraini courts - civilian as well as military - have been part of the machinery of repression that makes a mockery of fair trial standards when it comes to political dissent," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Injecting more speed and flexibility into a justice system in Bahrain that is already highly unjust is the wrong way to go."

Arabic Version