On March 11, 2016, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei delivered an Item 3 oral intervention at the 31st session of the Human Rights Council on behalf of ADHRB, BIRD, and BCHR during which he raised concerns at Bahrain’s disregard for the work of the UN Special Procedures.
Please continue reading for his full remarks, or click here to read a PDF of his intervention.
Mr. President,
Alsalam Foundation, together with Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, would like to raise our concern at the comprehensive disregard for the work of the Special Procedures by the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The latest joint communications report contained six Bahraini complaints on behalf of ten mandates. Despite the breadth of complaints raised regarding both individual and systematic examples of human rights abuses, Bahrain continues to refuse visits to any members of the Special Procedures. We would like to highlight three of these complaints.
The Rapporteurs on Health and Torture wrote concerning torture, poor conditions, and denial of access to health care in Jau Prison in relation to a violent crackdown on a prison protest on 10 March. Allegedly, the government has not undertaken an investigation against any security personnel involved in the assault.
The Rapporteurs on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Summary Executions, and Torture wrote of concern that Bahraini citizens Mohamad Ramadan and Husain Moosa had been sentenced to death on the basis of confessions coerced by means of torture.
The Rapporteurs on Expression, Assembly, Religion, and Human Rights Defenders expressed concern regarding the arbitrary detention of religious figures, human rights defenders and political opposition figures including Sheikh Ali Salman and Sheikh Maytham al-Salman.
We therefore call on the Government of Bahrain to begin constructively engaging with the Special Procedures, with a few towards ending impunity, providing redress for victims, and upholding international standards of human rights in the kingdom.
Thank you.
