Gulf Daily News – 26 January 2005
By ROBERT SMITH
BAHRAIN has been criticised by human rights activists for its track record on combating racial discrimination. Weak legislation, double standards within the system, a lack of public awareness campaigns and an absence of the topic from the national curriculum are just some of the reasons given.
They also accused Bahrain of failing to implement all articles of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which it signed back in March 1990.
The criticisms are spelled out in a shadow report submitted to the United Nations (UN) by members of the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and the International Federation for Human Rights.Gulf Daily News – 26 January 2005
By ROBERT SMITH
BAHRAIN has been criticised by human rights activists for its track record on combating racial discrimination. Weak legislation, double standards within the system, a lack of public awareness campaigns and an absence of the topic from the national curriculum are just some of the reasons given.
They also accused Bahrain of failing to implement all articles of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which it signed back in March 1990.
The criticisms are spelled out in a shadow report submitted to the United Nations (UN) by members of the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and the International Federation for Human Rights.It will be considered by the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which is also reviewing an official racial discrimination report from the Bahrain government in March.
“In reality, the authorities have not taken effective legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures to give full effect to provisions of the convention [on the elimination of racial discrimination],” says the shadow report.
“No legislation has been adopted to meet the requirements of articles two, three and four of the convention.
“The national legislation does not contain explicit provisions prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic and national origin.
“The convention is not yet invoked before the courts.
“There are no special mechanisms to monitor the application of guarantees of non-discrimination laid down in the law.”Those behind the shadow report say no progress has been made in establishing a National Human Rights Committee to monitor the fulfilment of Bahrain’s obligations under the convention.
They also criticised the process of obtaining Bahraini citizenship because of distinctions between Arab and non-Arab applicants; the fact that a Bahraini woman cannot pass on her nationality to her child if she marries a foreigner; and alleged discrepancies in awarding passports to foreigners depending on their gender.
“In connection with the implementation of article seven of the convention, there have been no serious efforts to intensify human rights education and training of law enforcement officers, teachers, social workers and public servants,” continues the shadow report.
It also criticises the treatment of foreign workers, whose lives may differ considerably depending on where they come from.
This is especially true for domestic workers, such as housemaids, who are not even covered by the Labour Law, it says.
“The law guarantees equal status to all workers,” says the shadow report.
“In practice, migrant workers coming from developed countries enjoy higher wages and better privileges than [Bahraini] citizens of the same job and qualifications.
“On the other hand, migrants coming from developing and poor countries receive lower privileges.
“Moreover, there are around 45,000 so-called free-visa workers who are considered outlaws and live at the mercy of their sponsors, who sell them black-market work visas and charge them a monthly ransom to stay in the country.”
The official government report on racial discrimination has been submitted to CERD – which comes under the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – for discussion on March 3 and 4.
Those behind the shadow report are also planning to conduct a presentation for the committee on March 3.The 66th session of the committee gets underway at the UN offices in Geneva next month and will consider similar reports from other countries including Australia, France and Ireland.
Bahrain submitted its document to the committee in September and it consists of two overdue periodic reports, that were originally due on April 26, 2001 and 2003 respectively.
Countries that have signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination are required to submit such reports to the committee, which then forms its own observations and recommendations.
The document supplied by the Bahrain government highlights efforts to combat discrimination in the country through education, rights set out in the National Constitution and the signing of international treaties, among other things.
However, human rights activists say it is too vague and “overstuffed” with references to the National Constitution – without saying how the convention is applied in practice.
“We feel that discrimination does exist in Bahrain – especially sectarian discrimination and discrimination against migrant workers,” said BCHR president Nabeel Rajab, who helped draft the shadow report.