Bahrain is clearly "not serious" about implementing human rights reforms, Amnesty International said today after the Gulf kingdom cancelled a planned visit by the United Nations' torture expert for a second time.

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, said he was "deeply disappointed" after Bahrain postponed next month's visit, citing delays in "ongoing national dialogue".

Official Impunity, Imprisoned Activists Undermine Claims

(Manama, February 28, 2013) – Bahrain’s rulers have made no progress on key reform promises, failing to release unjustly imprisoned activists or to hold accountable high-level officials responsible for torture, Human Rights Watch said today at a news conference in Manama.

02/15/2013 08:14 GMT

MANAMA, Feb 15, 2013 (AFP) - A police officer was killed near the Bahraini capital Manama in fresh overnight clashes with protesters marking the second anniversary of a Shiite-led uprising, the interior ministry said Friday.

The officer died after he was hit by a petrol bomb during clashes in a Shiite village near the capital.

A teenager was shot dead on Thursday when the protests to mark the 2011 uprising against the Gulf kingdom's Sunni rulers turned violent.

Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Bahrain

8 January 2013 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “deeply regrets” the decision of a Bahraini appeals court to uphold the sentences, including life imprisonment, against 20 Bahraini political activists, according to his spokesperson.

Johannesburg, 22 November 2012: Global civil society network CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation expresses deep concern at the continuing reprisals against Bahraini human rights defenders and urges the government to respect its international law obligations.

On-going persecution of human rights defenders for engaging with Bahrain’s Universal Periodic Review was highlighted by UN Secretary General, Ban ki Moon in his August 2012 report, Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights.

6 November 2012 – The United Nations condemns the deadly bombings which took place in Bahrain on Monday, a spokesperson for the world body said today.

“These violent acts cannot be justified by any cause,” added UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky, in response to a question during a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

According to media reports, five bombs exploded in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, yesterday, killing two foreign workers and critically injuring a third. Bahraini officials have reportedly described the bombings as a terrorist attack.

10/01/2012 12:18 GMT

DUBAI, Oct 1, 2012 (AFP) - Bahrain's highest court on Monday rejected the final appeal by nine medics against their convictions linked to anti-regime protests last year and upheld their jail terms, the government said.

"The court of cassation... has rejected the appeals and upheld the previous court's convictions and sentences of the nine accused," said a government statement citing deputy attorney general Abdulrahman al-Sayyed.

6 September 2012 – The United Nations human rights chief today described the a Bahraini appeals court’s decision to uphold convictions and sentences of 20 human rights activists and political opponents as “deeply regrettable.”

“Criticizing the Government and calling for reforms are not crimes,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said in a news release. “The Government must engage in an open, genuine and meaningful dialogue with the opposition, across the political spectrum. This is the only constructive way to defuse an increasingly tense situation.”

June 28, 2012

(Geneva) – For the first time, 28 countries, including Mexico, Norway, Costa Rica, France, and Germany, condemned ongoing violations in Bahrain through a joint collective declaration pronounced during a UN Human Rights Council debate. But the United States, the United Kingdom (UK), and seven other European Union (EU) states remained silent.