MPs take a pot shot at Geneva communiqué

Manama 

Parliamentarians in the Kingdom yesterday lambasted the joint statement issued by 33 States at the Geneva United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) meeting, commenting that “the statement included many fallacies.” 

Chairman of the Human Rights Committee at the Council of Representatives and member of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR)’s Board of Commissioners Khalid Al-Shaer said that the joint statement at the Geneva meeting was politicised. “It’s biased and ignores the landmark human rights achievements of the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

Al-Shaer stressed that Bahrain had launched many civilised and positive human rights initiatives that seldom exist in many countries. “Such a negative statement does not reflect the reality of the human rights situation in Bahrain. It included false remarks and dealt with issues that have nothing to do with the responsibilities of the UN Human Rights Council,” he explained.

He remarked that the statement exposed the ignorance of the States, which signed the statement of the real human rights situation in Bahrain. MP Al-Shaer also expressed the Human Rights Committee’s rejection of such a statement owing to the fallacies featuring in it.

“Although it mentioned some Bahraini human rights achievements, the statement was generally unsuccessful and biased, which reveals its politicised element and unacceptable stances against the Kingdom,” he opined.

He said the joint statement was not part of the agenda of the 30th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, including mainly the opening statement of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the periodic report on human rights in the world in which Bahrain was not mentioned.

Commenting that the statement lacked credibility, Al-Shaer explained that its contradictory method deliberately ignored the terror acts carried out by extremist groups to intimidate citizens and residents, damage public and private property, target security personnel and undermine public order. 

However, the MP emphasised that the statement would not impede the human rights march in the Kingdom. He noted that the Council of Representatives would intensify its efforts to contact councils, parliaments and organisations to uncover facts and respond to fallacies.

‘Committed to global human rights pacts’

Criticising the statement, Parliament Human Rights Committee Deputy Chairman MP Mohammed Al Maarifi said, “Bahrain is at all times committed to international human rights pacts. The Kingdom has been under the intensified fire of terrorism for a couple of years now. Security forces, as well as civilians have been attacked in more than one occasion and these acts are criminalised in all countries.” 

“It’s necessary to impose the law and preserve order, and we didn’t breach any of those pacts while restoring peace and curbing crime in our country,” he pointed out.

Al Maarifi said the statement disregarded the numerous achievements Bahrain accomplished in the field of human rights, adding that the Kingdom had implemented a big part of the recommendations issued by key institutions, including Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) and the UN HRC.

“The vital role of the Parliament House in ensuring that no prisoners are tortured or harmed was not at all mentioned in the joint statement,” he noted.

The MP also mentioned that a similar one-sided statement was issued in 2014 that included 46 States. 

He remarked that the reduction in the number of the involved States proves that the world is recognising the achievements of the Kingdom in the field of human
rights.

A highly condemnable affair

Parliament Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee Member Abdulrahman Bumjaid said, “We welcome the increase of international awareness of Bahrain’s human rights achievements. The international community also recognised and appreciated the legal procedures taken by the Kingdom against terrorism and violence.” 

“However, the statement aimed at playing down and shrinking those achievements is highly a highly condemnable affair,” he added. 

According to the lawmaker, the statement was “contradictory and lacked accuracy.”