Qatar's Al Jazeera channel injects venom from an undemocratic country: Bahrain Shura

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

The Shura Council has condemned broadcasts by the Qatari Al Jazeera channel, saying that it lacked credibility and that it has been using an approach to sow chaos, terrorism and violence.

The Human Rights Committee of the Shura said that Al Jazeera injects its poison from “a democratically sterile country” and that “it must learn how to initiate and observe democratic practices.”

In a statement, the committee said that Al Jazeera’s broadcasts are an extension of the attacks by the Qatari authorities on Bahraini fishermen and their livelihoods that also included further restrictions on them and arresting them in Bahrain’s territorial waters.

In some cases, the Qatari authorities used live ammunition against the Bahraini fishermen, resulting in fatalities and injuries.

Such attacks, constraints, arrests and shootings are a blatant violation of the sea conventions approved by the United Nations and flagrant abuse of the principles of good neighbourliness, the statement said.

At the same time, the Qatari government has been violating, and for extended periods, the rights of thousands of migrant workers, not providing them with adequate accommodations in a clear abuse of the principles of human rights. This has prompted the International Labour Organization to intervene on numerous occasions to call on the Qatari government to abide by the agreements that it was signed with regard to foreign workers. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has sent many complaints it had received from international organizations and NGOs, asking the Qatari government to respect the rights of foreign workers on its territory.

The Shura committee also affirmed that Bahrain established the principles of democracy through its constitutional institutions and guaranteed all individuals equality and the right to exercise all their constitutionally guaranteed rights. The Kingdom also guaranteed the principles of criminal justice and fair trial principles in accordance with international standards based on the rule of law, ensuring security and civil peace, exercising rights according to the law, and promulgating advanced criminal justice laws.

Bahrain’s advanced achievements and outstanding accomplishments in the humanitarian, legal and justice fields have obviously wounded the envious in a country that is devoid of the simplest manifestations of democracy and of the participation in public affairs management by representatives of the people’s will, the statement added.

"We, as members of the legislative branch, are proud of the legislation promulgated and practised by the Kingdom of Bahrain regarding human rights on the ground. We are also proud of the trust the Kingdom of Bahrain has gained both nationally and internationally and of the world’s confidence that enabled it to hold advanced positions in international and UN institutions,” the Shura committee said.

“Proud of the solidarity of its people with the leader of the nation’s progress, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Kingdom of Bahrain will keep moving forward, consolidating democratic practices, based on robust foundations, for rights and freedoms.”