Salam DHR called for investigation on the human rights violations in Bahrain

By addressing a letter to High Commissioner and UNHRC Chairman
Salam DHR called for investigation on the human rights violations in Bahrain

On the occasion of the UN Human Rights Council’s 40th Session, Salam for Democracy and Human Rights sent a letter to OHCHR High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, and HRC Chairman Ambassador Vojislav Šuc, calling for the establishment of an investigative mechanism on the situation of human rights in Bahrain.

The letter stresses that the government of Bahrain has not fully delivered on its promise to implement meaningful reforms as recommended by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), and has instead carried out only the bare minimum to avoid international opprobrium, while ‘playing’ the United Nations’ treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review.

It highlights a series of human rights violations and a wide range of repressive tactics by the Bahraini authorities, including the deprivation of 841 citizenship at least, the increasing number of death penalty, the unfair trials and convictions against political, religious leaders, and human rights activists, such as Sheikh Ali Salman and Nabeel Rajab, as well as the ongoing torture and ill-treatment in Bahraini jails.

Drewery Dyke of Salam DHR points out that “Bahrain obtained a seat on the UNHRC in October 2018, and in this capacity, Bahrain’s conduct in relation to human rights must be exemplary and transparent”.

In light of the above, Salam DHR urges the UNHRC and High Commissioner to:

• Publicly and privately condemn the human rights violations in Bahrain and call upon the government of Bahrain to act in accordance with international law to end the deepening crisis;

• Urge the Bahraini authorities to accede to more human rights treaties and their optional protocols where these exist, such as Second Optional Protocol of the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);

• Urge Bahrain to reinstate full citizenship and concomitant rights to the (at the time of writing) at least 841 nationals whose citizenship they have arbitrarily revoked by way of executive order or unfair court decisions since 2012;

• Call for the government of Bahrain to immediately release of opposition leaders including Sheikh Ali Salman and human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, along with other peaceful activists, former MPs, and prisoners of conscience whom being charged for exercising their rights, and stop arbitrary verdicts issued against them.