Resistance to transitional justice processes is commonly conceptualised as “spoilers’ territory”: the threat of accountability for past human rights abuses or transformed power structures can motivate a range of actors to seek to destroy or manipulate the process in order to limit the impact of any proposed measures. Despite this, there is a scarcity of literature regarding how resistance is manifested in the design and implementation of the very bodies and procedures that proclaim to serve the interests of transitional justice. Furthermore, there is little discussion as to why relevant actors may engage with transitional justice as opposed to open dissent and contestation. This article examines the role and implications of transitional justice in Bahrain following the February 2011 uprisings. It analyses the Government of Bahrain’s discourse surrounding its voluntary design and implementation of a number of transitional justice mechanisms, such as the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). It also scrutinises the messaging that has been accompanying – and continues to accompany – the reporting of results regarding the efficacy of these processes. On the basis of this analysis, it is demonstrated that the authorities in Bahrain have skilfully employed the language of transitional justice to resist any real transition or institutional reform within the Kingdom. The ideas and structures of transitional justice have been manipulated in order to sway both domestic and international opinions in favour of the existing regime, and, in doing so, have successfully served to bolster its political legitimacy. Adopting the transitional justice paradigm may thus paradoxically be understood as a strategy for resisting popular demands for accountability and political transformation – the very notions at the core of any transition.
