Bahrain affirms cooperation with all International Human Rights sides

The delegation of the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR), by Frej Fennich, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Section, concluded here yesterday its visit to the kingdom from December 2 to 6 at an official invitation from the Kingdom of Bahrain. During the visit, the delegation was informed about the kingdom’s milestone reform achievements, human rights strides and what has been implemented so far regarding the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), the National Consensus Dialogue and the UN Human Rights Council, assessed the needs of Bahraini state departments and civil society institutions to go ahead with efforts to build on the existing human rights accomplishments and build on them to consolidate their practice and culture. On the occasion, Human Right Affairs Minister Dr. Salah bin Ali said that OHCHR delegation held a total of 25 meetings with key personalities and officials representing the Executive, Legislative and Judicial authorities, as well as the private sector and NGOs. Dr Salah pointed out that the visit had established a solid relationship between the Human Rights Affairs Ministry and OHCHR and laid the foundation for the culture of field visits to assess the credibility of misleading information and be informed closely on the reality of the efforts being exerted to address the alleged human rights abuses or human-degrading practices. The Minister reiterated the Human Rights Affairs Ministry’s readiness to cooperate with any specialised UN agency or renowned human rights organization in order to write objective, professional and deception and confusion-free reports, calling for the need to take into account the administrative procedures and arrangements put forward by the Ministry, in association with the concerned government sides, to facilitate the mission of visiting human rights delegations. “In Bahrain, doors are wide-open for all as there is nothing to hide or fear of,” he said, adding that the kingdom has been –and will remain- a hub of democracy, transparency, social justice and human rights and, therefore, has no option but boost the human rights culture among the members of its society. He also said that Bahrain welcomes enhancing cooperation and coordination with OHCHR in order to receive its technical support, through consensus between the concerned sides, noting that a number of proposals and visions, discussed during OHCHR’s meetings in Bahrain, are being examined and will be implemented in tangible programmes through the official channels. Dr Salah Ali hailed the cooperation of all officials and personalities during their meetings with OHCHR’s delegation, explaining that they provided the visiting team with all needed documents and responded to all queries.