Bahrain will submit a voluntary report to the International Human Rights Council (HRC) at its 42nd session starting tomorrow in Geneva.
It will outline Bahrain’s rights accomplishments over the past two years since it presented its third report of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which received wide acclaim from the council’s members.
The report affirms Bahrain’s keenness to implement HRC’s recommendations and sheds light on its achievements and international initiatives which won global acclaim, Assistant Foreign Minister Abdulla Al Dossari told our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej.
This led many international organisations to adopt such initiatives, he said, asserting that Bahrain’s voice is heard at the Human Rights Council and international community.
The High Co-ordination Committee for Human Rights has started drawing up a draft national human rights plan. It has lined up a number of workshops with specialists and parties representing official authorities and civil society organisations, he added.
The committee will also co-ordinate with international experts from High Commission for Human Rights or international human rights organisations to formulate a comprehensive national strategy for human rights, which is expected to be completed and endorsed by end of next year, he pointed out.
He said Bahrain responds to any statement or query by international organisations about human rights, legally and in detail.
“Bahrain is moving forward, ignoring any attempts by some countries to obstruct its development process,” he said.
Concerning the death penalty in Bahrain, he said such punishment is implemented in most countries in cases involving terrorism and drugs.
“Bahrain’s judiciary is fair and provides all guarantees for a fair trial,” he said.
He criticised Iran for directing Iranian people’s money to centres abroad to issue negative reports on Bahrain and GCC countries.
“Iran is the last country to talk about human rights for it has no political or religious or media freedoms,” he noted.
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