Manama: Bahrain is establishing an independent ombudsman that will conduct investigations into allegations made against the police.
The move is in line with a set of recommendations by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), an international fact-finding team that probed, over a period of four months, events that hit Bahrain in February and March and their consequences.
The Ombudsman will be entirely independent from the interior ministry and will have the responsibility of conducting investigations into allegations made against the police and other issues that relate to public confidence in policing, Bahrain's National Commission, tasked with overseeing the implementation of the recommendations, said.
Alongside the ombudsman, a new Internal Affairs Department will also be established within the interior ministry and will be responsible for disciplinary reviews.
The National Commission said that the latest move was made "as Bahrain is in the final stages of implementing the reforms recommended by the BICI."
The interior ministry had recruited international police experts John Timoney and John Yates to advise about best practice on policing in the country.
The Internal Affairs department will also oversee the new Police Code of Conduct, approved by the minister on January 30.
The National Commission was initially scheduled to present its report to King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa at the end of February, but has decided to extend its work until March 20 to have sufficient time to review all measures taken to implement the BICI recommendations.
