House to vote on establishing permanent rights committee

The House of Representatives will vote in its next meeting on the proposal to establish a Human Rights Committee, quite similar to the existing five main House committees. The move aims to upgrade the temporary Human Rights Committee to a permanent one.

Speaking to Tribune, Dr Abduljabar Ahmed Altaib, Chairman of Bahrain Association of Jurists, said: “The establishment of the committee reflects the interest of the House of Representatives towards the most important element of human development and rights. “The committee will work towards ensuring that the state joins human rights conventions, which aim to enhance the human rights scenario across the world.” “There is usually a temporary human rights committee working on enacting and considering legislation on human rights.

The move is really a good one as it would contribute towards protecting and promoting the human rights,” he added. Four parliamentarians are expected to become the members of the committee. They are Dr Abdullah Al Thawadi, Sawsan Kamal, Ahmad Al Amer, Basem Al Maliki and Abdullah Al Dosari. The committee will be formed in accordance with Article 21 of the House Rules of Procedure.

Mr Al Thawadi has already announced its intention to run for the chairmanship of the committee. He said that the proposal comes in line with the Kingdom’s stance that human rights form one of the basic principles towards achieving sustainable development goals. Mr Al Thawadi pointed out that the committee will enrich Bahrain’s efforts in the field of human rights at the local, regional and international levels while affirming the Kingdom’s firm approach of co-operating with the UN and its agencies to overcome challenges faced by the international community.