Credible and consistent allegations of torture and mistreatment of detainees in Bahrain during 2015 undermined claims of reform, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2016.

The Bahraini government and its allies, chiefly the United Kingdom, have contended that new institutions established by Bahrain are effectively protecting detainees from abuse during interrogation.

Authorities prosecuted rights activists and political opposition figures during 2015 solely for speech-related offenses and subjected them to unfair trials. The government used repressive new legislation to arbitrarily strip dissidents of their Bahraini citizenship, in some cases leaving them stateless.

“Bahraini authorities have failed to stop torture and failed to address the culture of impunity that fosters torture,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director, according to Human Right Watch’s official website. 

“The much-ballyhooed reforms will remain false advertising until Bahrain stops jailing activists and opposition leaders, holds officers accountable for serious abuses like torture, and gets serious about judicial and security service reform.”

In June 2015, a court convicted Sheikh Ali Salman, secretary general of the country’s largest legally recognized opposition political society, Al Wifaq, of speech-related charges and sentenced him to four years in prison.

The presiding judge refused to allow Sheikh Salman’s defense lawyers to present potentially exculpatory evidence, including recordings of the speeches for which he was prosecuted.

Bahrain has been rocked by uprisings since February 2011, with protesters calling on the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power. Scores of people have been killed and many more arrested in the heavy-handed crackdown on demonstrations.