Bahrain Mirror: A Bahrain Watch investigation revealed that a leading Australian and an American intelligence company (iOmniscient and Pelco respectively) are likely supplying Bahrain's Ministry of Interior with state-of-the-art surveillance technology, amid concerns it could be used to target pro-democracy campaigners.

Published on Thursday (June 23, 2016), the report by London-based non-government organisation Bahrain Watch found that iOmniscient, which is headquartered in Sydney, has since April partnered with US company Pelco and Bahrain's LSS Technologies to provide the Bahrain Interior Ministry with enhanced surveillance equipment.

This includes 2000 CCTV cameras and facial recognition software to scan for "persons of interest" in crowds.

Australian media outlets have circulated this report, describing Bahrain as a police state and warning of abuse of the Australian surveillance technology in the island kingdom.

Bahrain's government has a track record of abusing surveillance tools to target human rights activists, lawyers, and members of the political opposition.

"The rollout of this technology means at least one camera for every 650 Bahrainis, allowing nationwide, real-time tracking of the population," said Bahrain Watch's Travis Brimhall, noting prior use of police video to indict protesters in the Gulf kingdom.

"Given the government's well-established record of targeting opposition and human rights defenders, we fear this will provide an advanced dissident-capture system where anyone found to be speaking out can be recognised and intercepted on a scale previously unseen," he added.

A global leader in video analytics, iOmniscient confirmed that it has projects with Bahrain's Interior Ministry to the value of "several million dollars", among them, advanced surveillance technology in prisons, police stations and along the causeway with Saudi Arabia.

In particular, the company's chief executive officer, Rustom Kanga, noted the company's facial recognition software provides unique capacities to identify individuals in crowds.

"We can recognise a person of interest such as a known hooligan even in a place which is totally uncontrolled," he said.

However, Dr Kanga said concerns about the misuse of iOmniscient's technology are unwarranted.

But victims of Bahrain's security forces say the government cannot be trusted with its surveillance capabilities. "They will use it against us, against civilians, to their fullest advantage," said Abbas Abdulaziz, a Sydney-based campaigner who fled Bahrain in 2011 after his home was raided by Bahraini and Saudi security and his family imprisoned.

Bahrain Watch says that the investigation highlights broader issues around an expanding Western trade in surveillance technology to unaccountable governments.

"This is a question about Australia being home to one of the global leaders in surveillance. The country has to ask itself what sort of abuses it is enabling by exporting this type of technology," Mr Brimhall said.

Bahrain's Interior Ministry did not respond to questions on its recent purchase or use of surveillance technology.

Arabic Version