,,ii #aadth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #bjji ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,august #f1 #bjae ,mr4 ,wyden 7for himself and ,mr4 ,rubio7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,a ,,bill ,to prohibit the sale of arms to ,bahrain4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,the ,bahrain ,independent ,commission of ,inquiry 7,,bici7 ,accountability ,act of #bjae4 #b4 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,the ,kingdom of ,bahrain is a party to several international human rights instruments1 including the ,international ,covenant on ,civil and ,political ,rights1 adopted ,december #af1 #aiff1 and entered into force ,march #bc1 #aigf1 and the ,convention ,against ,torture and ,other ,cruel1 ,inhuman or ,degrading ,treatment or ,punishment1 done at ,new ,york1 ,december #aj1 #aihd4 7#b7 ,the citizens of ,bahrain significantly intensified their calls for government reform and respect for human rights in ,february #bjaa1 with hundreds of thousands participating in nonviolent demonstrations4 7#c7 ,article #a of the ,royal ,order ,no4 #bh of ,july #a1 #bjaa1 established the ,bahrain ,independent ,commission of ,inquiry 7,,bici7 and mandated the ,commission to investigate and report on the events occurring in ,bahrain in ,february_/,march #bjaa1 and any subsequent consequences arising out of the aforementioned events1 and to make such recommendations as it may deem appropriate4 7#d7 ,the ,,bici was composed of well-renowned international human rights experts who were authorized to investigate human rights violations and recommend measures for accountability4 7#e7 ,the ,,bici received approximately #i1jjj written complaints from both ,bahraini citizens and foreign residents who claimed to be victims of human rights violations1 and the ,,bici conducted over #e1jjj personal interviews with those individuals4 7#f7 ,the #ejc-page ,,bici report investigating and reporting on the events that took place in ,bahrain from ,february #bjaa1 and the consequences of those events was submitted to the ,government of ,bahrain on ,november #bc1 #bjaa4 7#g7 ,the ,,bici report made #bf recommendations for reconsideration of administrative and legal actions1 and recommendations concerning the institutionalization of mechanisms designed to prevent the recurrence of similar events1 and how to address them4 7#h7 ,the ,king of ,bahrain received the ,,bici report on ,november #bc1 #bjaa1 and pledged to conceive and implement reforms that satisfy all segments of our population to achieve national reconciliation4 7#i7 ,the ,department of ,state stated on ,may #aa1 #bjab1 ,while the ,government of ,bahrain has begun to take some important steps to implement the recommendations of the ,bahrain ,independent ,commission of ,inquiry report1 the country is becoming increasingly polarized and much work remains to be done44 7#aj7 ,on ,august #ad1 #bjac1 the ,department of ,state submitted a report to ,congress entitled ,implementation of ,recommendations by the ,bahrain ,independent ,commission of ,inquiry1 which determined only #e of the #bf recommendations of the ,,bici report to be fully ,implemented by the ,government of ,bahrain4 7#aa7 ,the ,,bici report determined that the ,bahrain ,defence ,force was one of the main organs involved in the implementation of ,royal ,decree ,no4 #ah of #bjaa pursuant to which the ,state of ,national ,safety was declared in ,bahrain4 7#ab7 ,the ,,bici report found the ,bahrain ,defence ,force units holding law enforcement powers executed arrest warrants against some individuals1 including doctors employed by the ,salmaniya ,medical ,complex 7,,smc7 and former parliamentarians4 7#ac7 ,human ,rights ,first has found that no officials from the ,bahrain ,defence ,force have been held accountable for excessive use of violence against peaceful protesters since #bjaa4 7#ad7 ,amnesty ,international determined that opposition leader ,ali ,salman is a prisoner of conscience who was sentenced to four years in prison1 after an unfair trial1 on ,june #ae1 #bjae4 7#ae7 ,according to the ,project on ,middle ,east ,democracy1 the ,government of ,bahrain summoned ,bahraini opposition leader ,khalil al-,marzooq over an investigation into insulting a government ministry and inciting hatred on ,june #cj1 #bjae1 and ,july #a1 #bjae4 7#af7 ,according to the ,americans for ,democracy and ,human ,rights in ,bahrain1 the ,government of ,bahrain re-arrested the recently released ,bahraini opposition leader ,ibrahim ,sharif in connection with a speech in which he peacefully criticized the government and called for political reform on ,july #ab1 #bjae4 7#ag7 ,the ,department of ,state's #bjad ,human ,rights ,report on ,bahrain released on ,june #be1 #bjad1 found1 ,the most serious human rights problems included ''' arrest and detention of protesters 7some of whom were violent7 on vague charges1 occasionally leading to their torture and mistreatment in detention2 and lack of due process in trials of political and human rights activists1 students1 and journalists1 including harsh sentences44 7#ah7 ,the ,department of ,state announced on ,june #bi1 #bjae1 the decision to lift the holds on security assistance to the ,bahrain ,defence ,force and ,national ,guard that were implemented following ,bahrain's crackdown on demonstrations in #bjaa4 #c4 ,prohibition on sale of certain arms to ,bahrain 7a7 ,in general ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 the ,united ,states ,government may not sell or transfer to the ,government of ,bahrain any of the items set forth in subsection 7b7 until the ,secretary of ,state certifies that the ,government of ,bahrain has fully implemented all #bf recommendations set forth in the #bjaa ,bahrain ,independent ,commission of ,inquiry 7,,bici7 report4 7b7 ,prohibited items ,the items referred to in subsection 7a7 are as follows3 7#a7 ,tear gas4 7#b7 ,small arms4 7#c7 ,light weapons4 7#d7 ,ammunition for small arms and light weapons4 7#e7 ,humvees4 7#f7 ,other items that could reasonably be used for crowd control purposes4