Arab Speaker condemns Amnesty International's report on Bahrain human rights situation

Agencies | Cairo

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Arab Parliament Speaker Adel Al Assoomi has condemned the fallacies and misinformation contained in the Amnesty International report on the human rights situation in Bahrain.

The report is not based on facts or evidence and has deviated from the professional and objective standards and has ignored the reality on the grounds of human rights, he said in a statement.

Bahrain a constitutional and legislative system and various national agencies and institutions for protecting human rights. The Kingdom is also an active member in the international conventions concerned with promoting human rights, he said.

The pan-Arab Speaker said he wondered about the real objectives behind issuing a report on protests that took place in Bahrain ten years ago.

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al took the extraordinary initiative of forming a fact-finding commission comprised of international jurists to look into the events, the Bahrain International Commission of Inquiry (BICI). HM the King gave full powers to the commission as he was keen on the clarification of all the facts that surrounded the events. When the commission issued its report, HM the King formed a national commission to study its recommendations and follow up on their implementation, Al Assoomi said.

The other baseless allegations mentioned in the report of the organization constitute blatant and unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom, especially that the Bahraini judicial institutions are the ones that deal with cases and issue their decisions in this regard independently from any directives.

Al Assoomi stressed that protecting human rights is a continuous and developing process and that no one is against reviewing situations to ensure the best support and protection, However, it is necessary to do it professionally and objectively to ensure that its real goal is a genuine enhancement of the situation.

In this case, Amnesty International, as a human rights organization, should have communicated with the concerned authorities in Bahrain regarding the misinformation contained in its report, especially since the Kingdom has repeatedly affirmed its openness and cooperation with all non-governmental organizations related to human rights, he said.

Unfortunately, the report issued by Amnesty International regarding Bahrain is an extension of the subjective and impartial approach with which the international organization deals with the human rights situation in the Arab world in general, Al Assoomi said.

He indicated that Amnesty International has been issuing reports criticizing the human rights situation in Arab countries without directly communicating with the concerned authorities in these countries.

Al Assoomi called on the organization to take into account this matter in the future “so that its reports issued in this regard are credible and impartial.