The Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, adopted by the UN General Assembly (1995), defines tolerance as “the harmony in difference. It is the virtue that makes peace possible, and contributes to the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace. Tolerance is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication and liberty of conscience”.
The UN marked 16 November as the International Day for Tolerance, with the aim of calling for the establishment and re-enforcement of values of tolerance among human beings of all faiths, cultures, and ethnicities, in order to achieve a better life for humanity in peace, acceptance, and mutual understanding.
In Bahrain, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) documented gross violations of Article II of the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, which states that “Tolerance at the State level requires ensuring fairness and impartiality in legislation, law enforcement, and judicial and administrative procedures. Also, it requires providing economic and social opportunities for everyone without any discrimination. Any exclusion or marginalization leads to frustration, aggression, and intolerance. ”
Hence, the civil society institutions and organizations are responsible to promote tolerance by condemning injustice, extremism, discrimination, violence, racism, and political and social exclusion. In this regard, the president of BCHR, Nedal AlSalman states that “because the State is not adhering to the provisions of the UN Declaration, the civil society organizations are taking responsibility to promote the values of equal citizenship, to spread the culture of democracy and human rights, and to provide an opportunity for individuals to raise their voice against intolerance”.
Therefore, BCHR calls on the Bahraini authorities to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release all detainees and prisoners of conscience;
- Return citizenship to hundreds of Bahraini citizens who were deprived of their citizenship on the background of expressing their views;
- Stop all human rights violations and to cooperate seriously with international and local human rights bodies to redress the deterioration of human rights in Bahrain;
- Open the horizon of public freedoms as a fundamental factor in the consolidation of fundamental rights, which are based on the value of tolerance, in particular, freedom of expression, the right of peaceful assembly and association, and the protection of religious freedoms.