It must be nice for researchers from well-intentioned human rights agencies to sit back in offices overseas and write critical reports on governments and administrations. The beauty of that methodology is that researchers can pick and choose what to include in their critical reports and ignore concrete facts and the reality on the ground. The government of Bahrain has come under attack from Amnesty International with an allegation of human rights abuses there. But the group has failed — and not for the first time either, when it comes to Gulf nations — to fully balance all of the facts.

The report is based on anonymous allegations that could easily have been refuted if basic homework and research were done. It was not. Over the past four years, Bahrain has set up independent mechanisms and an ombudsman’s office to explore and rigorously investigate complaints of abuse of those in custody. International experts have been brought in to ensure that transparency and fairness are built into detention procedures. Yet, all of these facts have been ignored. Why? They likely did not suit the agenda of the paid researchers.