5 Bahraini human rights groups welcomed the appointment of Dr. Agnes Callamard, a leading international human rights expert, as amnesty international’s new Secretary-General on 29th of March.
Dr. Callamard was recently the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary extrajudicial executions, where she has issued several, very important positions and has had an impact on the human rights situation in Bahrain, including with regard to arbitrary death sentences on which these sober human rights positions are a lever on the basis of various human rights institutions involved in the follow-up of torture victims and convicts.
We are at a time where the region, particularly Bahrain, is experiencing many human rights challenges related to public and private freedoms in the context of relentless crackdowns on public freedoms; we believe that this appointment gives the human rights movement a big step forward, and we hold hopes that Bahrain’s human rights situation will be a top priority for what it has witnessed a delay on all levels.
Signed human rights organizations are:
1. Salam for Democracy and Human Rights
2. Bahrain Forum for Human Rights
3. Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights
4. Bahrain Center for Human Rights
5. Bahrain Press Association