"Towards Justice for Bahrain"

Geneva, Palais des Nations (United Nations), 21 May 2012


 
The Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT), in partnership with No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), convened today a meeting on "Towards Justice for Bahrain", which was hosted at the United Nations Office (Palais des Nations) in Geneva. The meeting was organised on the occasion of the thirteenth session of the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group, during which the human rights records of 14 States, including Bahrain, will be reviewed.The purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for Bahraini human rights activists to report on the ongoing alarming humanitarian situation and the deplorable human rights and fundamental freedoms record in their country.
 
As highlighted by the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), issued on 23 November 2011, the Bahraini security forces perpetrated “massive systematic violations and widespread torture” against civilians during mass protests in the country in February and March 2011. Despite promising indications by the Bahraini highest authorities in accepting the report and its recommendations, little has changed and the Bahraini people continue to suffer violence at the hands of this same Government.
 
Participants at the meeting on "Towards Justice for Bahrain" included Bahraini activists, international experts and representatives of national and international institutions, including: Jalila Al Salman, Deputy Vice President Bahrain Teachers Union (arrested in March 2011 for 5 months and a victim of torture), Syed Hadi Al Musawi, Head of the Human Rights Department of Al Wefaq, Bahrain’s largest opposition party, Lamees Dhaif, Bahraini journalist, Karim Radhi, Member of Bahrain’s General Federation of Trade Unions, Dr Taha Alderazi, a leading Bahraini brain surgeon, Faisal Hayat, Bahraini journalist, detained and tortured for 3 months in 2011, Mohamed Al Tajer, Bahraini lawyer defending those who have been arrested and Abdulhamad Aldashti, Kuwaiti MP. The meeting will be co-chaired by Marco Perduca, member of the NRPTT and Italian Senator, and Niccolo’ Figa-Talamanca, Secretary-General of NPWJ.
 
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