Manama: Two officers and a policeman have been arrested following a complaint by a Bahraini father that they had assaulted his son at a police station.
The three were detained after the interior ministry launched an investigation into the incident, the interior Ministry assistant undersecretary for legal affairs said.
“The victim was questioned and referred to a medical examiner to determine the injuries as well as their causes and timing,” he said in a statement late on Tuesday.
One of the officers claimed that the victim had verbally abused his mother at a majlis.
The investigations concluded that the behaviour of the three security personnel was personally-motivated and that they had broken the law and instructions.
They have been detained pending the legal procedures.
The interior ministry has pledged a zero-tolerance towards its personnel and the promotion of a new culture following the release of a searing report by an international fact-finding mission set up to look into the events that occurred in Bahrain in February and March 2011.
Recommendations by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) included improving the prevailing culture.
Accepting the recommendations, the ministry launched a series of reforms with international assistance, mainly from the US and Britain, “to achieve security for the state and its citizens within the framework of the law.”
An ombudsman’s office was set up last year to look into grievances by Bahrainis, expatriates and visitors into alleged offenses by police, while a Police Community Service was boosted by the integration of more Bahrainis from the country’s five governorates.
A code of conduct that required the police to adhere fully to the principles of human rights and freedom for all citizens was issued last year.
The code obliges officers to abide by 10 principles, including the limited use of force and a policy of zero tolerance towards torture and mistreatment.
“This code of conduct represents a new social treaty between members of Bahraini society and the police,” Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, the interior minister, said. “It will mark the start of a new era and a correct path to building bridges of confidence between the united Bahraini society and the police, based on the rule of law, integrity, transparency, tolerance, and the breaking of psychological barriers between them,” he said.