AhlulBayt News Agency - The General Secretariat in Al Wefaq National Islamic Society discussed local, regional and international developments in its regular meeting on Wednesday 11th May 2016 at the Society’s headquarters and highlighted the following points:
- The recommendations set out by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report have not been implemented by the Bahraini authorities. The most important of which is to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation by fulfilling the political and human rights demands that have been raised by the citizens. The rights to freedom of expression and assembly must be respected. Also, the authorities are yet to prove respect and protection of right to belief and practice of religious rituals and to halt sectarian persecution. A healthy political environment is needed to correct the mistakes and policies of the executive authority by ending the misuse of the judiciary to punish government opponents, as recommended by the BICI report. Many of the violations documented in the report are ongoing today in light of the authorities’ entrenchment of impunity. Bahrain is still to address many violations related to security and judicial proceedings.
- Al Wefaq expresses its support to the international human rights reports in regards to the Bahraini authorities’ failure to implement the BICI recommendations. Most recently, the report released by the U.S State Department in April 2016 mentioning, “International and local human rights organizations viewed the BICI report as the standard against which to measure the country’s human rights reforms and noted that the government had not fully implemented its recommendations, particularly those involving reconciliation, safeguarding freedom of expression, and accountability for abuses”.
- The BICI report is a result of the effort and work of five international legal experts and the cooperation of a number of domestic and international state and non-state institutions. It was officially received with the presence of all five members of the BICI, and thus, a declaration of the state’s full implementation of its recommendations must be accepted collectively. Testimonies and evidence must also be presented in accordance with UN standards. A unilateral evaluation claiming the completion of the implementation of the recommendations carries no consideration when it is declared by the side responsible for the violations. Or when interest is received with the declaration of such biased and unjust evaluation. This is especially true as this evaluation clearly contradicts what credible organizations continue to document in their reports, without presence of interest.
- The government’s decision to cancel the Bahraini quota system in the labor market is a risky move against the narrow space of employment security for Bahraini workers. This step will result in structural changes in the labor market, the economy and the population. Bahrain is a small country and cannot bear such unilateral decisions that carry strategic catastrophic consequences on the long run.
- Al Wefaq is concerned about the statements that said the 3% annual increase for retired workers will be stopped and the retiary age will be increased to 65. The statements also said that social pensions would be raised to 24%. These statements have raised concern among citizens, yet, have been left unexplained by officials.
- The Bahraini authorities are heading to make new legislations to deprive citizens from their right to peaceful political activism under the pretext that those citizens are clerics. The state must recognize that depriving this category of citizens is a universal right which is ensured for all Bahraini citizens – whether they are medics, lawyers, traders or else- violates the principle of equal citizenship.
- The arrest and detention of prominent cleric Sheikh Muhammad Almansi highlights once again that Bahrain’s prisons are overcrowded with opinion prisoners. Sheikh Almansi is a respectable personality and has devoted his life to serve our homeland and to defend the rights of citizens. He is a prisoner of conscience.
- Al Wefaq is concerned about the increase in the number of sentences handed in cases of political background and opinion prisoners. Indications of a real desire to reach a political solution are absent as the country has been overshadowed by its political and constitutional crisis over the past five years.
- Al Wefaq is seriously concerned about the statements made by Rayhana Almusawi, who has been released after serving her sentence. The responses made by the Ombudsman Office and the Special Investigation Unit were disproportionate with the abuses she talked about. Al Wefaq is calling for an independent and transparent investigation into her statements about the torture and abuses she was subjected to whilst in custody.
- Depriving citizens who have been detained or affected by the political crisis from state housing compensation is an immoral and politicized behavior and a violation of the right of a large group of citizens and their families.
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