Over 30 years ago, on 13 February 1992, Bahrain became a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This landmark treaty established universal human rights for children under the age of 18 years old. The treaty has been almost unanimously adopted in the United Nations with all but one party, the United States, ratifying the treaty.
By ratifying the treaty, Bahrain has agreed to the contents of the CRC. The CRC establishes safeguards to protect and care for children. For example, Article 37 ensures that minors have their personal liberties protected while incarcerated. Article 40 provides children with fair hearing and an assumption of innocence. These protections offer children throughout the world a means to guarantee their personal liberties and human rights.
Bahrain has not abided by the CRC. Numerous minors are currently incarcerated in the Bahrani prison system. Inside this system, they face numerous difficulties and are often deprived of the rights guaranteed to them by the CRC. Unfair trials, arbitrary detention, denial of legal assistance, and even torture are all common experiences for the children incarcerated in Bahrain.
The arrest of Ali Husain Matrook Abdulla is just one of numerous cases that highlights the failures of the Bahraini authorities to abide by the CRC. The 15-year-old was arrested without a warrant while spending time with friends. Ali’s family has been unable to visit him. His own attorney was prohibited from attending the interrogation, during which Ali faced physical and psychological abuse from police officers. The officers then used threats of violence to coerce him to confess.
Since his coerced confession, Bahraini authorities have made mounting a legal defence to the charges an impossible task for Ali and his attorney. Ali is consistently denied access to his attorney, Bahraini authorities continue to charge him with additional crimes, and his court date is continually delayed. Ali and his attorney face insurmountable odds in ensuring that Ali receives a fair and impartial trial.
All of Ali’s woes have been brought on by the Bahraini authorities, who have flouted the CRC time and time again. The Bahraini authorities have arbitrarily arrested the minor, tortured him, coerced a confession from him. They do this while simultaneously denying Ali his day in court by delaying his trial date.
With the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council currently ongoing, it’s time for the international community to take a stand against the inhumane conditions that children face within the Bahraini prison system. Bahrain’s blatant disregard for the CRC should be met with scrutiny and criticism from the international community with the ultimate goal being the immediate release of all children arbitrarily and unjustly imprisoned in Bahrain.
