Bahrain Mirror: Former Bahraini MP for the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, Ali al-Aswad, said that the constitutional amendment that was recently approved by the National Assembly, primarily targets "dissidents and human rights defenders, and not those accused of terrorism-linked cases." The constitutional amendment gives military courts powers to try civilians. On this level, al-Aswad noted, "Civil courts that held re-trials of civilians previously tried by military courts, said they were subjected to torture, and were forced to confess crimes they didn't commit."

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), al-Aswad believed that the aforementioned constitutional amendment is considered "a clear state fall back in terms of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry's 2011 recommendation, which rejected referring civilians to military courts." This recommendation was approved by the Bahraini king.

Arabic Version