Al-Wefaq: Government’s Ombudsman is not an implementation of the Bassiouni recommendations

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society stated that the authority in Bahrain is making cosmetic implementations of the Bassiouni report recommendations to mislead the international community. This illustrates the clear circumvention that human rights organizations have warned of, Al-Wefaq said, commenting on the launching of an Ombudsman Secretariat in Bahrain.Al-Wefaq stressed that the authority should eradicate the systematic problem which was confirmed in the BICI report. The authority must rather address the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain which is being whitewashed by the Human Rights Minister, while at the same time, the image of high profile human rights organizations is being defamed.Al-Wefaq added that the ombudsman lacks one of the most essential element institutions of the like must enjoy, that is, the victims’ trust. The victims do not trust the regime’s institutions because its courts have acquitted killers and torturers although the Bassionui report had clearly confirmed that Bahraini medics were subjected to brutal torture.Al-Wefaq wondered what the secretary-general of the ombudsman might say regarding the torture allegations after the Interior Minister spoke at the launching event to state that torture allegations are baseless and unjustified. Indeed, the ombudsman has acquitted police officers accused of torturing detainees. However the ombudsman is meaningless as it nourishes the culture of impunity to torturers and killers.Al-Wefaq says that according to the BICI report, human rights violations have not been perpetrated because of the absence of official institutions. However, paragraph 1243 of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report has clearly described the core problem;“The recent recurrence of many of the violations identified by the Committee Against Torture may indicate that prison officials are being guided by a similar set of practices, or even policies, as existed in the past.  This indicates a systemic problem, which can only be addressed on a systemic level “.The report’s recommendations cannot be understood without this particular paragraph which refers the violations to a systematic problem, which is illustrated in the state’s viewpoint towards the human rights of dissidents. This systematic problem can only be addressed by eradicating and uprooting it. Using the Human rights title to whitewash the bad image of the state and mislead the international community cannot address the problem.Al-Wefaq sees that the report has very accurately identified the “systematic problem”. Thereof, the authority’s cosmetic addressing of the problem is no more than bubbles, and nowhere near ensuring human rights on ground.Al-Wefaq added that the commission member, Nigel Rodley, had said in a hearing session in the British House of Commons, that disappearance of human rights violations will indicate the success in implementing the recommendations of the BICI report. Yet, this has not happened in Bahrain, as most taken measures do not indicate the eradication of the systematic problem./129