BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 29 (UPI) -- Despite steps made in the right direction, Bahrain is "hardly" implementing reforms suggested by a panel probing last year's unrest, Human Rights Watch said.
Bahrain last year announced it was considering recommendations made in a report on the unrest from the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry. BICI concluded state security forces used unnecessary lethal force during a crackdown last year.
Joe Stork, deputy director for Middle East studies at Human Rights Watch, said issues related to torture and wrongful imprisonment weren't addressed.
"Bahrain has taken some positive steps but the Bahraini authorities can hardly claim that the BICI's recommendations have been implemented as long as hundreds of people remain behind bars solely for speaking out and demanding a change of government," he said in a statement from Beirut.
Bahrain has been responding to a largely Shiite uprising against the Sunni-led monarchy. The government was criticized for its crackdown against demonstrators. Stork said there was an absence of investigations into high-ranking officials accused of atrocities against civilians in Bahrain.
The United Nations last week said "reliable sources" indicated that a number of deaths during uprisings in Bahrain were linked to the use of tear gas fired by security forces into crowds.
