Bahrain and the United Nations

Today, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) issued a report entitled “Bahrain and the United Nations,” and the report was published in Arabic and English on the occasion of the International Day of the United Nations corresponding to the 24th of October.

The report aims to show whether the government of Bahrain is cooperating with the United Nations mechanisms. It begins at the forefront of it by reviewing the background and emergence of the United Nations after the World War II, in the hope that the horrors of armed conflict will not be repeated again.

The report also reviews, in a wide area, the international agreements and instruments ratified and signed by the government of Bahrain, and which were carried out under the supervision of the United Nations.

Under the title “The United Nations’ Position on the Bahrain Issue,” the report reviewed the most significant UN positions from the beginning of the popular protests in 2011 until its last statement in this year regarding the death penalty cases in the country.

The report stated that since 2011, Special Procedures offices have sent 89 letters to Bahrain, and concluded that Bahrain has refused to cooperate adequately with the Special Procedures, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations in general. In this way, it is negligent with the application of its internal laws and the constitution in compliance with international agreements.

In its conclusion, the report recommended that the Bahrain Center for Human Rights calls on the Bahraini government to accept the visit requests of the special rapporteurs and seek cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner. BCHR also addresses the influential countries of the United Nations that have close or good relations with Bahrain in order to exert pressure towards protecting human rights in Country.

The BCHR also recommended that the United Nations’ calls be met for the release of all human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience, in addition to the abolition of the death penalty, and urged the government of Bahrain to abide by all international treaties and covenants it has signed.

To read the full report, click here Bahrain and UN