US Official hails the establishment of BICI

The United States supports the desire of people everywhere to enjoy the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly, religion, the opportunities that come with an open and responsive system of governance. In a perfect world all people would achieve all of these goals immediately, but in the real world one has to be mindful of the risks and rewards of opportunities in circumstances that will condition the ability to move as quickly as one desires, said the Deputy US Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs Stephen Seche. The newly appointed Deputy US Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs said that it is frustrating for all not to be able to effect these changes immediately. “We look at each situation uniquely and evaluate circumstances in each country. Then we make our best judgement as to how best we can help the people realise their desire to achieve the liberties America has enjoyed for hundreds of years and we want that to be the end goal for societies around the world,” he added. Addressing journalists in Bahrain, on how the US plans to help Bahrain in the implementation of the National Dialogue recommendations and the Bassiouni Committee recommendations, he said, there will be the actual implementation of the recommendations as opposed to just the recommendations as they are now. “We wait to see what they come out from. There may be many constitutional amendments as I understand. They will be the vehicles through which these recommendations are framed.”He expressed optimism that that will be a process that will unfold itself and at such time the US will look at it very carefully. If there is an opportunity for to help in the implementation phase, America surely would be prepared to do so, he added. These recommendations will be taken seriously as a means to address the legitimate questions and concerns of the Bahraini citizen, said the senior foreign affairs official. “So I think the National Dialogue’s intent was to create a forum in which people of Bahrain can listen to each other and move forward in a process that will table these issues and concerns and try to find a way to frame them properly so that they can be taken up by the government.” he said. The meeting he said looked at an opportunity in the relationship where the GCC is beginning to define its role model broadly in the region. “And certainly we saw the GCC take a very constructive step in Libya. They really contributed to an outcome that we all think is probably the best we can hope for. So the GCC is demonstrating a greater interest in contributing to regional stability and financial stability,” said Seche “We want to take advantage of these opportunities and maximize them so that the GCC can really be a contributing member to the region’s stability, defined as largely and as broadly as the GCC member states are comfortable with,” he added. Turning to the issue of his expectation of the results of the drafting of the Bahrain Commision of Inquiry, he said, “I think we would like to wait for the Commission report to speak for itself. We have been encouraged by the process that has ensued here since the Commission first arrived in Bahrain. ” They have been very thorough and Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni has spoken publicly about the response. He has been encouraged by the receptivity of all aspects of the Bahraini government to probe into the different questions, their need to get to as much information in the time they had, said the official. “This is a positive development and we believe that the Commission’s findings will reflect a process which has been thorough and comprehensive and very professional. We will look forward to the recommendations,” he added. As with the National Dialogue, the US will look for opportunities to help the government, he added. “We believe the implementation phase brings the most significant opportunities for the government to address the concerns and address the shortfalls and failings that have been identified early in the year,” said Seche and added that this is a very important interception for the government of Bahrain and the people of the nation are to gain greater confidence that their rights and responsibilities will be recognized and protected. I think that certainly is the intent of the Commission and of His Majesty in inviting the Commission, because it really was a very courageous move that has not been replicated anywhere else in the Arab world before. Regarding trials for doctors, he said, “We have been very encouraged by a couple of recent steps: first of all by the suspension of the National Safety Courts on October 7. The nation of Bahrain has a very strong judicial system that we felt could be utilized in these cases. On October 7 a quick decision was made to move into a purely civilian trial setting for ongoing cases, so that is a very good step forward. ” The commission report should be seen as an opportunity to build bridges between all the parties. It is an opportunity that people should take advantage of it. It is easy to nit-pick at the report, he concluded.