On March 7, 2016, at the 31st session of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Ali Ahmed al-Jazeeri delivered an oral intervention on behalf of ADHRB, BIRD, and BCHR during the Item 3 Clustered Debate on Violence Against Children, and the Rights of the Child. Mr. al-Jazeeri addressed the abuses that children face during detention, as well as the use of excessive force against children.
Please continue reading for his full remarks, or click here to download a PDF.
الرجاء الضغط هنا لقراءة هذه الرسالة باللغة العربي
Distinguished members of the Committee … on behalf of the Peace Foundation and Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.
I would like to bring to the attention of the respected members of the committee many of the abuses occurring against children in Bahrain, such as arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture in prisons and the prevention of further education, keeping juveniles in adult prisoners, that is if they survived extrajudicial killings and excessive use of force. Nearly 60 children were killed in the past 5 years in Bahrain in several ways, including the excessive use of tear gas, bullets, murder, firing explosive tear gas from close distance or being run over by cars.
Respected members of the committee I lost my eldest son in 2013. He was shot at close range when he was demonstrating with the rest of the people to commemorate the anniversary of the February 14 uprising in Bahrain. My son died after suffering from his injury in the right side of his abdomen. The ambulance arrived late at the scene that is because of the MOI’s decision to prevent demonstrators from having access to treatment. My son died before arriving at the hospital. His case was dismissed and our hopes in holding perpetrators accountable crumbled. This is not surprising, failing to hold members of the police accountable is now the norm.
We call on the Government of Bahrain to commit to the protection of children and comply with its obligations arising from treaties that Bahrain signed and ratified, and we would like to know what recommendations this Commission could present to improve children’s rights in Bahrain.
Thank you
