Professor Bassiouni was appointed head of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), known locally as the Bassiouni Commission, at the time of its establishment, 29 June 2011, by the King of Bahrain.
•
On 9 August 2011, Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, criticized Bassiouni in an open letter for statements he (Bassiouni) made in an 8 August 2011 interview with Reuters.