Priti Patel was given a tour of a notorious police station in Bahrain where human rights activists have been tortured and sexually assaulted – including a man granted asylum in the UK.
The home secretary – who recently kept her job despite being found to have bullied her staff – also praised the repressive Gulf state for its “progress to achieve common interests”, local media reported.
“I can’t understand why Priti Patel would pay a state visit to the same police station, flanked by the people who have allowed my torturers to walk free… How can the Home Office accept that I was tortured at this site, then send the home secretary there for a photo opportunity?” Said Yusuf Al-Jamri, who was granted asylum in the UK after suffering torture at the hands of Bahrain’s infamous National Security Agency at the police station told The Independent.
Human rights watchdogs and alleged torture victims have slammed Patel’s visit to the Muharraq Governorate Police station.
The visit was not publicised in the UK and happened despite a BBC report about torture and sexual abuse in Muharraq being broadcast last March.
