Bahraini opposition rebuffs government

Al-Wefaq,  the leading Shia opposition group in Bahrain, has rejected government attempts to approach directly four opposition figures, including two of its members, in trying to form a national commission to push through the recommendations of a damning report into human rights abuses. The government is seeking to form a 20-member national commission to make recommendations by February on how to implement judicial and security reforms recommended by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry announced last week.   The hard-hitting BICI report outlined “systematic torture” and “excessive use of force” by the security forces against protests that rocked the strategically important Gulf state earlier this year. King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who is part of the minority Sunni community, also appointed a government working group a day after the BICI’s report last Wednesday The BICI report recommended the setting up of a commission, to include members of the opposition, to help push through broader ideas for judicial and security reform. “This approach from the government is a waste of time,” Jawad Fairouz, a member of Al-Wefaq, said on Sunday. “The violations are so clear, but after all this we haven’t seen one resignation or something to show the government is serious about dealing with this.” The opposition’s complaints underline concerns that government procrastination could hinder the reforms suggested by the BICI, a tactic which has hampered previous attempts to investigate infringements of human rights. Sheikh Khalid bin Ali al-Khalifa, the justice minister, deplored al-Wefaq’s decision to boycott the national commission, but said the door remained open to any party willing to “embark on the reform march”. The spat illustrates the problems in forging consensus in polarised Bahrain, where the Sunni community has backed the government’s hardline policing since Gulf states backed up a crackdown on pro-democracy protests.