AhlulBayt News Agency

source : al Wefaq
Wednesday

12 December 2012

7:01:00 AM
371601

The Human Rights situation in Bahrain continues to deteriorate

The Liberties and Human Rights department in Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society stressed that the Human Rights situation in Bahrain continues to deteriorate, and most Human Rights violations have been perpetrated by the regime against citizens, solely for demanding democratic transition.

Bahrain (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Al-Wefaq stated that most violations had been perpetrated against the citizens to punish them for their stances, and this indicates that the regime's use of all kinds of repression to silence the people from demanding their rights, and this is what it has failed to achieve for the past 22 months.
 
In a statement issued Monday (10th December,2012) to mark the international Human rights day, the department said:
Despite all the attention paid by the official international human rights bodies represented the United Nations, Human Rights Council, Higher Commissioner for Human Rights, and human rights departments of some countries, and also the attention paid by the international Human Rights NGOs such as  Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Human Rights First, Physicians for Human Rights, Freedom House Organization and many organizations that have been watching very closely the situation in Bahrain and had issued many statements about what has been going on in Bahrain. And despite the daily and intraday documentation and close watch by human rights institutions and observatories inside and outside the country, and that consider documenting the ongoing violations in Bahrain, a priority. Nonetheless, the index of human rights violations in Bahrain remains at high levels, in fact, reaching the ever highest.
 
The department said that the deterioration of the human rights situation in Bahrain has started since the first moment of the 14 Feb revolution, and has not improved since. As Bahrain authority attempted to avoid international and the local pressure back then and circumvent it by calling in international experts to form a commission representing a team of five delegates, chaired by international professor Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni. The commission ended up with a comprehensive report called Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) Report, and which consisted of 12 parts and 1725 paragraphs. This report is the biggest of its kind in the region's history.

The report stressed that the violations committed by the regime were horrific and outrageous. It concluded related causes of violations and the methods practiced while perpetrating abuses and violations. It also concluded how the human rights situation will be in Bahrain if the authority does not stop the violations, and hold abusers to account.
It, also, mentioned that the report concluded 26 important recommendations which lead to hold accountable the senior and junior officials, whether have passed down or received the orders, in order to bring justice for victims. And to train personnel who lack bases of responsibility, during the period in which the violations took place and after.
 
Al-Wefaq Liberties and Human Rights Department pointed out that the post BICI report period in which the regime has pledged to implement 176 UNHRC recommendations during the May 2012 UPR in Geneva. The International Community slammed the Government of Bahrain with the biggest number of recommendations, however, the authorities have failed to live up to its pledges. This proves the absence of a serious intention to commit to international principles and standards.

This was very clear in the period of February and March 2011, when horrible human right violations were perpetrated in the aftermath of the brutal crackdown on the peaceful pro-democracy revolution at the Pearl Square.
 
The department stressed that the regime in Bahrain has not succeeded to address the urgent need for Bahraini society to have a respected and clean human right environment. In fact, the regime has failed to correct the behavior of its bodies, not only the security services- which are involved in wide range of human right outrageous violations- but every official department adopted the systematic policy which aimed to take revenge from dissidents who practice their right to criticize the authority's policy.
   
Al-Wefaq Liberties and Human Right Department, also, added that the majority of official organizations are under the security's hands. Ministries of Health, Education, Social Development and Municipalities, along with the state media, security services, military and intelligence services; all were actively involved in many violations against the opposition. As international human right reports mentioned their involvement of the judiciary also.
 
At the time all the world is celebrating the International Human Rights Day via close follow-ups to avoid possible human right violations, the regime in Bahrain is celebrating in its own way by hollow statements and lies, attempting to mislead the international community. Yet, the regime in Bahrain poses respect of human rights, whilst, what is happening on ground refutes all official falsifications.

Despite finding a Ministry of Human Right, forming a supreme ministerial follow up committee for the UPR recommendations, restructuring the National Foundation for Human Rights as per Paris Principles, receiving delegates and representatives of human rights organizations, founding a department to receive complaints, or mentioning the presence of an observer in security and military services, however, nonstop violations on ground refute all superficial misleading claims.
 
"All of such measures are just a mask which is barefacedly worn to hide the ugliness of hostile violations against the people in Bahrain demanding justice and democracy".
 
"We celebrate this day in Bahrain to set an example of oppressed people, suffer the political persecution, the repression, where privacy, religious, political freedoms are deprived. Our right of individual and society security is absent, as one's practice of right to peaceful protest can expose him/her to extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrest, severe beating, or torture on streets or inside the detention centers".
 
"Anybody in the world can sue and hold to account a policeman, lawmaker, judge, or journalist according to international laws and mankind culture. Whereas, in Bahrain, prominent human right defenders like AdulHadi alKhawaja, and Nabeel Rajab, president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), in addition to Dr. Abdul-Jalil alSangees, all remain behind bars.
 
The department added, "On the International Human Rights Day, we acknowledge that the authority in Bahrain has perpetrated the violations mentioned above, and it is still committing nonstop violations and abuses. Therefore, this authority is incapable of respecting principles, covenants and international standards of human rights, and will continue to wrongly justify its crimes, the department stated.    

It also mentioned that the regime's violations of human rights against citizens, including killings, torture, mass arrests, and revoking of nationalities, depriving citizens work for reasons relating to freedom of opinion and expression, in addition to demolishing mosques amongst other violations against religious freedoms and discriminating against a certain sectors in the society. All this proves that the regime is slipping into a humanitarian crisis that may not be easy to escape and which will cost more day after day, and its consequences will drag over to the future of the country.  
 
The department also stressed that the demand to stop violations against the Bahraini human is not a political demand or a matter of negotiation. It is a matter of crimes that cannot pass with silence, it requires the international community to take a serious stance that can stop the regime's recklessness and disvalue of lives, over crossing all boundaries in attempt to end the popular protests.  
 
 
10th December 2012
Liberties and Human Rights Department
Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society-Bahrain


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