Bahrain Mirror: The Qatari daily "Al-Sharq" reported on the Chambers of Death report, which was released by three Bahraini human rights organizations, accusing the National Security Agency of using heinous torture methods against dissidents.

"The report is new evidence and extensive proof of the brutal practices of the authorities in the Kingdom of Bahrain," reported the Qatari paper quoting the rights group.

Khalid Ibrahim, director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), stressed that the use of torture and violence against detainees by the Bahraini security services has been "systematic and well established" for years, highlighting the torture that activist Ebtisam al-Sayegh was subjected to.

"The security services in Bahrain do not follow the minimum international human rights standards and have not made any effort to fulfill their human rights obligations," Ibrahim told Al-Sahrq.

On a related note, the newspaper published an article by Qatari author and analyst Dr. Mohammed al-Mesfer, in which he responded to an Bahraini Information Minister Ali al-Rumaihi's interview in the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Bahraini minister said that there are "Qatari media movements led by Al-Jazeera channel that address the Qatari citizen in an attempt to distort the image of the Gulf Cooperation Council and push for popular Qatari calls for withdrawing from the GCC."

In response to the Bahraini minister's comments, al-Mesfer wondered if the Gulf citizen actually needs someone to smear the reputation of the GCC for him. "For God's sake, what are the achievements that the GCC has made in all its crises since its establishment in 1981?," he asked, pointing out "the occupation of Kuwait that was later liberated by the Americans, the Qatari-Bahraini border dispute that was resolved by the International Court of Justice, the border disputes between the UAE and Saudi Arabia that have not yet been resolved, as well as the Kuwaiti-Saudi disputes."

"What about the Yemeni crisis between the legitimate authority and the coupists and the role of the GCC . What about the unification of the Gulf currency, and what has the Secretariat done with regards to in dispute between the three Gulf States and Qatar. The GCC's reputation is distorted by its establishment, principles and practices," al-Mesfer further stated.

Al-Mesfer denounced the Bahraini minister's claim that the measures against Qatar were not directed against the Qatari citizens, and asked: "Who is affected by the blockade today? Is it not the citizen of Qatar and the Gulf citizen in general, as they are unable to communicate even through letters and cash transfers to intertwined families between Qatar and the three countries?, And what about the procedural complications that have been imposed on Qatari pilgrims, which have prevented most, if not all, from carrying out their [religious] obligation of performing Hajj (pilgrimage) this year. The Bahraini Minister of Information lives in a world and the Arab Gulf in another broken, split and fallen world due to the policies of some of its leaders and the siege on Qatar is one of the reasons behind that split and collapse."

"I would like the Minister to remain silent to at least save the social value he has in Bahrain," adding that the GCC is "living in the recovery room because it is infected with failure of the arteries of the heart".

Arabic Version