Bahrain‘s Human Rights Minister during a visit to Morocco on 22 May stated: “Bahrain Has Presented Itself as a Model in Implementing BICI’s Recommendations”
He said that despite the regretful incidents that happened in 2011, the kingdom of Bahrain has presented itself as a model in its wise dealing with those events, highlighting Bahrain’s bold steps in this regard, including the establishment of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), led by international eminent judges, the acceptance of the recommendations featuring in BICI’s final report and the political leadership’s commitment to implementing them, out of its belief in the importance of protecting human rights.
In this context, he noted that the Public Prosecutor established a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) which is authorised to investigate claims of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, according to international standards and the Istanbul Protocol’s Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adding that SIU investigated all cases of death and allegations of ill-treatment and torture associated with the 2011 events independently, noting that the Public Prosecution had reviewed all cases examined by the National Safety Courts and dropped all charges related to the exercise of freedom of opinion and expression (and a total of 332 suspects benefited and had their charges dropped).
this was from, ..guess..the state’s news agency: http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/561916
or with the expression of concern by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) over the removal of detained Nabeel Rajab from his cell http://gc4hr.org/news/view/416 :
Nabeel Rajab called his wife on 14 May 2013, telling her that he had witnessed the torture of young political prisoners at the hands of prison guards at Jaw prison. He raised his voice telling them to stop, and when they realized that he had witnessed what was happening, they quickly left. Nabeel Rajab asked his wife to request that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visit him in prison so he can give them his testimony of what he had witnessed. Rajab’s wife received a phone call that evening informing her that Nabeel was reportedly removed from his cell that night by prison guards and was not returned. The BCHR and GCHR are very concerned that due to what Nabeel Rajab witnessed he is being silenced by being moved to solitary confinement. There is a serious concern of ill-treatment if he is moved to solitary confinement where he loses communication with his family and lawyer. The GCHR had previously launched an appeal about allowing Nabeel Rajab access to adequate medical care: http://gc4hr.org/news/view/394
Who do you believe?
Leave a Reply