Bahraini security forces used \"excessive force\" and tortured detainees in a March crackdown on Shiite-led protests demanding democratic change, the head of an Independent Commission of Inquiry announced on Wednesday. Responding to the inquiry\'s findings, an official spokesman said the government accepts the criticisms. \"The government welcomes the findings of the Independent Commission, and acknowledges its criticisms,\" a statement said. \"We took the initiative in asking for this thorough and detailed inquiry to seek the truth and we accept it.\" The report also acknowledged that the commission did not find proof of an Iran link to the unrest, dispelling widespread allegations by Sunni Gulf leaders that Iran played a role in instigating the mainly Shiite protests. \"Evidence presented to the commission did not prove a clear link between the events in Bahrain and Iran,\" said Cherif Bassiouni, the commission\'s lead investigator. Riot police in Bahrain earlier fired tear gas at demonstrators after clashes erupted just hours before the release of an independent report on the Gulf nation\'s unrest. Wednesday\'s street battles broke out after a 44-year-old man died when his car crashed into a house earlier in the day. Protesters say he swerved to avoid security vehicles. Bahrain\'s government says it\'s investigating.  Bahrain\'s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa said said in a live TV address that the report would be a \"catalyst for change\". He pledged that civilians would no longer be tried in military courts, and dismayed by reports of the mistreatment of prisoners in the report. \"Your report provides a historical oportunity to deal with matters that are urgent,\" he said. He promised to replace officials responsible for the abuse and to \"heal fractures in our society\". The King said the today\'s report \"turned a new page in history\". But in a defiant note he pointed out the European countries are also accused of human rights abuses. He also called for the creation of an Arab court of human rights. King Hamad praised the security forces and public for overcoming \"sectarian violence\". Admissions of excessive force against protesters and promises of more inquiries were part of a pre-emptive narrative ahead of Wednesday\'s highly anticipated report on the Gulf\'s main Arab Spring uprising, which also has become a flashpoint between U.S.-backed Gulf states and rival Iran. \"Regrettably, there have been instances of excessive force and mistreatment of detainees\" during the deadly crackdown against protests, the Bahraini government statement said. The statement said authorities have begun prosecuting 20 officers involved in the crackdown, adding that more steps will be taken. \"We cannot condone mistreatment and abuses by our officials. There will be no impunity. All those responsible for abuses will be held accountable,\" it added. \"The Bahrain government is now admitting what the world has known for months,\" the U.S.-based Human Rights First organization said, but added \"Tackling impunity means more than prosecuting low-ranking officers,\" the group said. Over the past months, the international panel received more than 8,000 complaints, testimonies and documents. Its members have interviewed more than 5,000 witnesses and alleged victims of the unrest, including detainees, police personnel, doctors and journalists. King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa established a five-member commission in June to investigate \"whether the events of February and March 2011 (and thereafter) involved violations of international human rights law and norms\". At least 35 people have been killed in this year\'s unrest, including security forces, with hundreds more wounded and detained. The unprecedented wave of demonstrations, street marches and sit-ins by Bahrain\'s Shiite majority — which has long complained of systematic discrimination by the ruling Sunni dynasty — also has unsettled rulers across the oil-rich states who are accustomed to stifling domestic criticism by granting favors and making cash handouts. The commission spent months interviewing thousands of witnesses, officials and others about the chaotic and bloody months after protests began in February. Details of the report, which will focus on the period between February 14 and March 30, have been a tightly held secret. But the government\'s conciliatory tone in advance suggests authorities in the island kingdom believe it could cast a harsh light on the tactics used against demonstrators and already noted in rights groups allegations: widespread arrests, purges from workplaces and universities, destruction of Shiite mosques and jail house abuses. Many Bahrainis are sceptical that the report will be fair, partly because of statements made by Cherif Bassiouni, the Egyptian judge who chairs the commission. His most controversial statement came in August, when he told reporters that there was no evidence of routine torture in Bahrain. He backtracked earlier this month, when he told the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm that the commission had uncovered 300 cases of torture, and described it as a \"systematic policy\". \"They don\'t trust the report. This is a commission appointed by the king,\" said Yousif al-Muhafdah, a human rights activist. \"The people in Bahrain are disappointed with Bassiouni and his commission.\" Some of the strongest accusations have come from medical personnel from Bahrain\'s main state hospital, who claim they were beaten and ridiculed in custody after state authorities took over the Salmaniya Medical Complex, claiming its mostly Shiite staff who have treated injured protesters were opposition sympathizers Bahraini authorities counter that opposition claims are exaggerated and they could not allow protesters to claim control of key areas of the capital, including the main financial district — recently pointing to the actions of police in the United States to roust anti-Wall Street groups. For Gulf leaders, led by powerful Saudi Arabia, the conflict in Bahrain is seen as a firewall to keep pro-reform protests from spreading further across the region. Gulf rulers have rallied behind the kingdom\'s embattled monarchy and sent in military reinforcements during the height of the crackdowns. Bahrain also is viewed as a front-line fight against Iranian influence. The Sunni Arab monarchy and influential sheiks consider any significant gains by Bahrain\'s Shiites as a beachhead for Shiite powerhouse Iran. Earlier this month, Bahraini authorities accused five people of links to a suspected terror cell connected to Iran\'s Revolutionary Guard, whose alleged targets included attacks on the Saudi Embassy and the causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Although there had been no direct evidence of links between Bahrain\'s Shiites and Tehran, the claims underscore the intensity of the showdown. For decades, Shiites have pushed for a greater voice in a country where they account for 70 percent of the 525,000 people but are generally blocked from top political and government posts. The Arab Spring was the catalyst for the most sustained Shiite-led revolt. Protesters began occupying a square in the capital Manama in February — just days after crowds in Cairo\'s Tahrir Square celebrated the downfall of Hosni Mubarak. But the opposition struggled to coalesce around a coherent set of demands. Some protesters wanted a constitutional monarchy; others said they would settle for nothing less than the complete ouster of the ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty. Security forces later stormed Manama\'s Pearl Square, tore down the landmark three-pronged monument at its center and imposed martial law. Hundreds of activists, political leaders and Shiite professionals such as lawyers, doctors, nurses and athletes were jailed and tried on anti-state crimes behind closed doors in a special security court that was set up during emergency rule. Bahraini politics have remained sharply divided ever since the uprising, not only between the government and the opposition, but also within the ruling family. Analysts describe a power struggle between \"moderates\", aligned with the crown prince, and more conservative factions linked to the longtime prime minister, who is also the king\'s uncle. A coalition of Bahraini human rights groups plans to issue an alternative set of findings at a press conference on Tuesday. The report will be closely watched by international human rights organisations, several of which are sending analysts to Bahrain this week. \"We\'ll be looking at the whole issue of impunity, proper investigations,\" said Said Boumedouha, a researcher with Amnesty International. \"They need to bring those responsible for torture, for the deaths of civilians in custody, to justice.\" Boumedouha said that the members of the commission are generally well-regarded, and that he expected their investigation was a serious one. \"Their reputations are on the line too,\" he said. On Saturday, a police vehicle ran over a 16-year-old protester in Juffair, a suburb of Manama. killing him. The boy\'s uncle told the Associated Press news agency that security forces blocked relatives and medical personnel from reaching him. Bahrain\'s interior ministry said that the boy\'s death was an accident, and blamed it on an \"oil spill\" left by \"rioters\".