US report ‘inaccurate’

Manama : Prominent human right activist yesterday rebuked the allegations made against Bahrain in the US State Department’s human rights report as “inaccurate” and based on sources having no direct knowledge of the situations inside Kingdom. 

Rejecting the report, Faisal Fulad, Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) Secretary-General, in a statement, pointed out that the report was “based on information from associations or organisations operating outside Bahrain.” 

The report, Faisal Fulad accused, has failed to take into account the context of terrorism faced by Bahrain from the Iranian regime. 

He also criticised the report for lack of impartial Bahraini and Arab sources saying, “the report was unfair to Bahraini human rights organisations.” 

The report was based on organisations that do not have members or offices in Bahrain and “some of them never visited Bahrain.”

The ‘Bahraini Human Rights in 2017’, he said, ignored reports of rights organisations registered and centred their activities in Bahrain, with many of them established in 2004. 

Fulad also pointed out that the report also failed to account the systematic terrorism of the Iranian regime in the Kingdom.  

The Iranian regime has been striving to destroy the stability of the Kingdom by supporting armed groups through their intelligence services and Revolutionary Guards, resulting in the loss of lives of several innocent people and police officers. “The report ignored all these violations,” stressed Fulad. 

Warning about the dangerous Iranian activity in Bahrain, which aims to destabilize the entire Gulf region, the Secretary-General said: “These terrorist activities also had its toll on the national economy.”

“The Iranian regime since 1979 has been trying to overthrow the government here through armed groups trained in Iran. 

“Many of these individuals linked to Iran are currently active in Western countries as human rights activists after their inability to attempt a coup against the Monarchy in Bahrain. For example, the failed attempt in 1981 and 1996, in addition to several terrorist attacks targeting security and stability of Bahrain,” he stressed. 

Further supporting his claims, he also pointed out that Bahrain has historically respected all religious traditions and there is no discrimination against religions and sects in Bahrain and “the US report on this issue do not have an official source.”

Demanding the US State Department to focus it reports on all human rights organisations and civil societies in Bahrain, Fulad said that these organisations have full independence in writing reports on the situation of Bahrain with sufficient sources and evidence. 

He also called on the US State Department to focus on the Iranian threat aimed at destabilising Bahrain by using armed groups associated with Iran. 

Fulad, however, said the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) welcomes any reports and believes in the idea of criticism and reform.