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A leading Australian intelligence company is selling state-of-the-art surveillance technology to Bahrain amid concerns it could be used to target pro-democracy campaigners, according to an investigation by international human rights advocates.
Published on Thursday, the report by London-based non-government organisation Bahrain Watch found that iOmniscient, which is headquartered in Sydney, has since April partnered with US company Pelco and Bahrain's LSS Technologies to provide the Bahrain Interior Ministry with enhanced surveillance equipment.
This includes 2000 CCTV cameras and facial recognition software to scan for "persons of interest" in crowds.
"The rollout of this technology means at least one camera for every 650 Bahrainis, allowing nationwide, real-time tracking of the population," said Bahrain Watch's Travis Brimhall, noting prior use of police video to indict protesters in the Gulf kingdom.
"Given the government's well-established record of targeting opposition and human rights defenders, we fear this will provide an advanced dissident-capture system where anyone found to be speaking out can be recognised and intercepted on a scale previously unseen."
Bahrain, home the US Fifth Fleet, was in 2011 the site of mass demonstrations demanding political reform by the country's Shiite majority population. The protests were violently put down by security forces with assistance from neighbouring states, including Saudi Arabia, but dissent and repression have persisted.
On Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern at Bahraini authorities' intensification of the crackdown on dissent, including attacks on freedoms of expression and association and the detention of those exercising their human rights.
A global leader in video analytics, iOmniscient confirmed that it has projects with Bahrain's Interior Ministry to the value of "several million dollars", among them, advanced surveillance technology in prisons, police stations and along the causeway with Saudi Arabia.
In particular, the company's chief executive officer, Rustom Kanga, noted the company's facial recognition software provides unique capacities to identify individuals in crowds.
"We can recognise a person of interest such as a known hooligan even in a place which is totally uncontrolled," he said.
However, Dr Kanga said concerns about the misuse of iOmniscient's technology are unwarranted.
"If a person of interest shows up he can be apprehended by the authorities while the general public is totally protected and their privacy is never compromised," he said. "The system essentially helps the human operator to be more effective more quickly, especially in emergencies. Innocent citizens have nothing to worry about."
But victims of Bahrain's security forces say the government cannot be trusted with its surveillance capabilities.
"They will use it against us, against civilians, to their fullest advantage," said Abbas Abdulaziz, a Sydney-based campaigner who fled Bahrain in 2011 after his home was raided by Bahraini and Saudi security and his family imprisoned.
"When it comes to human rights activists in Bahrain, all of them are now behind bars, but not only them – also kids, women, old people, engineers and doctors."
Bahrain Watch says that the investigation highlights broader issues around an expanding Western trade in surveillance technology to unaccountable governments.
"This is a question about Australia being home to one of the global leaders in surveillance. The country has to ask itself what sort of abuses it is enabling by exporting this type of technology," Mr Brimhall said.
Bahrain's Interior Ministry did not respond to questions on its recent purchase or use of surveillance technology.
