Bahrain Jails Photojournalist for 10 Years, Says HRW Report 'Misleading'

A Bahraini court has jailed for 10 years a freelance photographer who covered demonstrations and revoked his citizenship after convicting him of "terrorism", Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday. 

A criminal court convicted Sayed al-Mousawi on Sunday of having given mobile phone SIM cards to "terrorist" demonstrators and taking photos of protests, RSF said in a statement.

Bahrain frequently uses the term "terrorists" to refer to mostly-Shiite protesters who still take to the streets in villages and clash with police after the kingdom's Sunni authorities crushed a month-long uprising in 2011.

"The threats and intimidation campaigns against professional journalists and citizen journalists have just one aim – to use 'terrorism' as a pretext for suppressing all criticism of an authoritarian regime," said Alexandra El Khazen, RSF's Middle East head.

Mousawi was arrested "without a warrant" on February 10 last year in the Shiite town of Diraz, said RSF, adding that authorities had confiscated his camera and other electronic devices. 

"It is outrageous that a journalist has been treated like a terrorist," said RSF. 

"Arbitrary arrests of peaceful dissidents, systematic torture and impunity have turned Bahrain into a dangerous country for those who speak out," the Paris-based media watchdog said.

It condemned Mousawi's "arbitrary detention" and urged authorities to overturn the conviction which is still subject to appeal.

Scores of Shiites have been rounded up, tried and sentenced to prison following the uprising. 

The strategic kingdom, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has also revoked the citizenships of many, drawing condemnation from international rights groups.

According to RSF, a total of eight journalists and five citizen-journalists are currently detained in Bahrain.

Also on Tuesday, Bahrain criticized as misleading a Human Rights Watch report accusing the kingdom's authorities of torturing detainees during interrogation and granting security officials impunity. 

The report, published Monday, is "misleading, unbalanced and controversial," said Information Minister Isa al-Hammadi in remarks on the official BNA news agency.

It is "based on false information."

Bahrain has established "independent national watchdogs to probe any alleged illegal practices involving detainees, inmates or others," said Hammadi, adding that such action is taken "seriously" by the kingdom. 

"We have a clear policy of cooperation with international organizations which are willing to do so," he said, adding that "Bahrain is in no need for politicized watchdogs which work through an agenda," apparently referring to HRW.

New York-based HRW has said regulatory bodies set up after the 2011  to end torture in interrogation and detention facilities "lack independence."

HRW spoke of cases of physical torture amid a "complete lack of accountability for the abuse of detainees." 

It said it interviewed 10 detainees "who said they endured coercive interrogations" by authorities.

In another statement on BNA, the government said it was "reviewing" the content of HRW's report, "including a series of anonymous allegations it contains, and recommendations."

It urged HRW to provide the three institutions, controlled by the interior ministry and public prosecutor, "with sufficient information to enable them to conduct effective investigations."