An international organization calls for Bahrain to abide by the standards of Human Rights

Islam Times: The organization, whose head quarters are based in Belgium (Brussels), pointed out that through its mission in Bahrain, it got exposed to conflicting reports and  different testimonies concerning a series of cases that are related to the incidents that Al Bahrain has witnessed lately; and after its visit to Bahrain it came down to a series of conclusions and recommendations and summarized them in a 40 page report entitled “Where is the future of Al Bahrain going” and raised this report to the European union.

The organization mentioned in its report, that Al Bahrain and during the last decade, was considered one of the most advanced countries in the Arab world, since it has worked on the implementation of democratic reforms, promotion and enhancement of women’s rights, and creation of a favorable environment for business. However, during the same time the country witnessed lot of sectarian division that had an affect on the national cohesion, according to what was stated in the report.

The organization stressed in its report on the need for Bahrain for a “new social contract” and “a long term stable reconciliation”  that will benefit the Bahraini citizens and enhance the stability in the region.

The organization held the government, civil society, and political parties responsible for working in this direction, stressing on the necessity that the Bahraini government works on what it described as »chain of trust building measures to restore the social dialogue  and rebuild the Bahraini society« , depending the most on those whom they described as “peace makers” and  on the trusted religious figures in the Bahraini society to rebuild the bridges between the components of the Bahraini society.

Moreover, the organization stressed on the fact the civil society and political associations have the right to hold and participate in peaceful demonstrations and protests.

The report recommended that the European Union calls out for Bahrain to implement the recommendations of the “dialogue of national consensus”, to and take into consideration the results of the Bahraini independent association for fact-finding, and to speed up the democratic reforms.

It also urged the civil society and political associations to express their claims through peaceful protest, without exercising any kind of violence against people or properties. Moreover it asked the government to adhere to the international standards of human rights that are related to the protection of the participants in the protests and the wellbeing of those who are arrested, in detention, have trials or are dismissed from work.

Moreover, the organization demanded the government to give all the employees who were suspended for unjust reasons their jobs back, and to release the prisoners who were arrested though they did not use violence to express their needs in the protests and are still waiting for their trials; the organization also asked the government to allow international observers to monitor the trials of the other defendants in the recent events.

The “Human Rights without Borders” organization, called out for the importance of finding a “channel for open dialogue” between the government, the organizations of the civil society and the political associations; and for the importance of encouraging these parties to participate in a serious political dialogue that is constructive and that will help Bahrain in satisfying its political, social and economical needs.

The recommendations of the report that was raised to the European Union included the demand for the Bahraini government to take trust building measures with the opposition, promote national reconciliation, restore social harmony in the Bahraini society, and develop the concept of citizenship in order to promote the respect of Rights of individuals and of the state and institutions. The organization also called for the introduction of a system to combat discrimination in the labor laws in order to protect migrant workers and expatriates, and for the prohibition of discrimination against foreigners and the prosecution of any violators , in addition to the  the moratorium on the death penalty in Bahrain.

Moreover, it recommended trainings for the law enforcement forces about the international human rights standards with the assistance of the European Union and the International Criminal Court, and organizing seminars concerning democracy, rule of the law, conflict resolution, human rights, and most importantly woman’s rights and discrimination against woman.