Bahrain committed to CEDAW covenant, assures Al Hammadi

Bahrain reiterated its commitment to equal rights and duties, as stipulated in the constitution and law provisions, without prejudicing Islamic Sharia precepts.  

Information and Parliament Affairs Minister Isa bin  Abdulrahman Al Hammadi voiced the stance yesterday as he addressed the committee on women and childhood at the Council of Representatives. 

The panel discussed extensively a report on Decree-law 70/2014 amending provisions of decree-law 5/2002 on accession to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Minister affirmed Bahrain’s commitment to the covenant without prejudicing Islamic Sharia precepts, reiterating the Kingdom’s reservations to the convention. 

He urged lawmakers to consider the decree-law with utmost national responsibility that marks the executive and legislature, pointing out that the text does not prejudice Islamic precepts in any way, nor does it trespass on Bahrain’s sovereignty. 

Al Hammadi reassured that Bahrain would not lift any of the reservations to CEDAW covenant. He said that the reservations had been redrafted “in a positive way”, to ensure that they would not be used to substantiate any prejudice to the Islamic teachings which consolidate, rather than denigrate women’s rights. “We need to unify concepts and redraft the text in positive manner. All the redrafted provisions dismiss any prejudice to Islamic precepts.” 

He stressed the need to ensure organisations or activists do not use such concepts against Bahrain or any Islamic country which voiced these reservations when acceding to the convention.