(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Sheikh Maytham Alsalman, head of religious freedom unit in the Bahrain Human Rights Observatory, welcomed the outcomes of the U.S State Department in its report, issued late July 2014. Alsalman said the report documented core violations of religious freedom in Bahrain and which confirm the existence of an illegal practice human rights violations on religious grounds.
(Read the report:http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#)
“The report received favorable comments from human rights NGOs and civil society associations that seek to halt human rights violations practiced on religious grounds”, Alsalman said, “the report recommended the U.S Administration to closely follow the situation in Bahrain to document violations of religious freedom. This can help in increasing international and diplomatic pressure to end violation of universal right to belief and religion”.
The report highlighted repeated vandalism of the historic 450 year old Amir Barbagi mosque in Aali area. It also highlighted the suspension of the Islamic Scholars Council, the largest Shiite establishment in the country, and the deportation of Ayatollah Sheikh Hussain Najati.
Alsalman said the Authority must rebuild all 38 mosques it had destroyed in their original locations. He said this will be the primary step to address the impacts of destroying these mosques.
The report also mentions that “members of the Shia community built simple structures for worship or rebuilt mosques on the sites of some religious structures the government had demolished in 2011. This was done without government financial support and without acquiring property deeds or building permits. During the year citizens of Nuwaidrat village completed reconstruction of six of the nine mosques destroyed in 2011, without government funds or assistance”.
The report also mentions, “Sunni citizens often received preference for employment in sensitive government positions, in the managerial ranks of the civil service, and in the military. Shia continued to assert they were unable to obtain government positions, especially in the security services, because of their religious affiliation”. Alsalman said this reality can no longer be hidden. “Foreign delegations found no convincing answers for the unfair representation of citizens in the police, military and State-run media”, he added.
“If the Bahraini Authority is disturbed by the State Department’s report it must learn that the outcome of the report is no disputable issue. State officials cannot convince international delegations visiting Bahrain that destroying 38 Shia mosques in a record time was a legal measure that did not aim for mass punishment of a main community in Bahraini society”, Alsalman said.
Alsalman stressed that denial to redress and justice for victims fosters the possibility that these crimes be perpetrated again. Human rights abusers feel that the Authorities are providing him with impunity, he added, therefore those responsible for violations of religious freedom must be held accountable.
Alsalman said the Authority must lift the ban on the Barbagi mosque and allow citizens to pray in the location of the destroyed mosque. He also called for accountability of officials involved in destroying the mosques which must all be rebuilt.
/129