Bahrain Salam for Human Rights Speech which distributed to participant in HRC Forum in 26/11/2014 about Persecution of Shia in Bahrain

Bahrain SALAM for Human Rights would like to highlight the serious humanitarian violations committed against the Shia population of Bahrain. Whilst both the 1973 and 2002 Bahrain constitutions confirm the principle of equality of all citizens, including legal, civil and political rights, this has not been case for the Shia majority. Since 2011, positions for public office including judges, ministers and advisers have been directly appointed by the government. However, even though Bahrain’s Shia are a majority, they are a minority in all constitutional and administrative branches of the country. They occupy only 15% of the executive branch, 12% of the judiciary, 10% of government bodies and companies, and only 1% of the security apparatus, which includes the army. Furthermore, according to the Bahrain Independent Commission Inquiry Report (BICI), thousands of Shia have been made redundant from their jobs since 2011.
Since the protests of 2011, 38 Shia mosques have been demolished and an additional 8 Shia Islamic Centres have been vandalised. The Shia Islamic Council was forcibly closed in January 2014. The government has over the last few months revoked the citizenship of at least 52 Shia citizens including a prominent Bahraini religious scholar, Ayatollah Al-Najati, who was deported. The increasingly harsh and violent treatments carried out by the security forces in Bahrain against the Shia population, and the raids on Sheikh Isa Qasim’s home yesterday is one of many methods of abuse directed at Shia prominent figures.
Recommendations
1. For the United Nation Human Rights Council to oblige the Bahraini authorities to observe UN legislations and standards, and international declarations and covenants.
2. For the Bahraini government to carry out the recommendations suggested by BICI Report in 2011 and the UN Human Rights Council’s recommendations in 2012.
3. We recommend that the state media does not encourage hate and discrimination against any community including the Shia majority of the country.
4. For the United Nations Human Rights Council to request that the Bahraini government cease its policy of stripping Bahraini citizens of their nationality.
5. For the Bahraini government to guarantee equal political and legal rights for its citizens, whatever their religious beliefs.
6. For the Bahraini government to review its educational curriculum to ensure that the teaching of religion and history is not directed against a particular community and teaching should not be used as preaching against other schools of thought and religions.