Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain described the statements made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein at the UN Human Council's 31st session in Geneva as "unacceptable meddling in the internal affairs of the kingdom". In a speech he delivered on Thursday (March 10, 2016), the UN high commissioner had expressed his concern over the Bahraini authorities' silencing of the political opponents in the country and targeting them by revocation of their citizenships and deportation, calling on the government to make profound reforms.

The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that "what has been said contradicts with the facts on the ground which prove that the Kingdom of Bahrain has established a model worth emulating in terms of respect and promotion of human rights and provision of those rights, through various mechanisms and frameworks, to all citizens. The Kingdom also has a constant keenness to cooperate and interact with international organizations and agencies and implement various initiatives and programs that aim at the protection of human rights."

The ministry further stated that "the freedoms of opinion and expression are guaranteed and constitute an important pillar in the rise of the Kingdom of Bahrain because they are based on a set of advanced legislations, laws and systems that are constantly developed within the framework of professional ethics and morals as well as the internationally adopted media conventions."

"The judiciary enjoys the highest degrees of independence, honesty and transparency and provides guarantees for justice, equity and equal opportunities as well as preserving the rights of the citizens and their properties, guaranteed by the constitution and laws in order to protect the community from violence and terrorism," the ministry also stressed.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called for "abiding by objectivity and neutrality and the conduct of fact-finding in a meticulous and comprehensive manner, far from politicization of issues, so as to establish the truth and guarantee credibility."

For his part, Ambassador Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations in Geneva, delivered the Kingdom's address during the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council, in which he stressed that "the High Commissioner for Human Rights has made the remarks at the wrong time, ignoring the existing cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the UNHRC and the agreement of understanding between the kingdom and the High Commissioner on a technical cooperation and capacity building program for this year, which was a positive initiative towards more cooperation and partnership in promoting human rights mechanisms, strengthening civil society, activating freedom of opinion and expression, and strengthening the national human rights institution's work in accordance with the Paris principles."

He further pointed out that "these statements with broad titles being repeated over and over and recycled inside out do not serve at all the tireless efforts so far exerted to promote human rights in the Kingdom. They; however, imply that the High Commissioner for Human Rights Office should exert further effort to understand the reality of human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the huge challenges it is facing by outsourcing information in a more accurate way from neutral, objective and non-politicized sources."

Ambassador Bucheeri also reiterated "Bahrain's full commitment to all international conventions and laws on human rights, and its adherence to maintaining human rights and supporting everything that would respect these rights in order to ensure security and tranquility to all citizens, reiterating the Kingdom's keenness to cooperate and interact with all international organizations and agencies to further protect and consolidate human rights."

"The application of law on any individual could not be overlooked, regardless of the individual's political affiliation or social activity as none is above the law, adding that it is also unacceptable to question the integrity and independence of the judiciary or comment on its provisions. The spaces of internal dialogue between the various components of the Bahraini society and their discussion of national matters relating to their engagement in political life and its development shall remain a pure national affair which does not fall within the prerogatives of this forum to discuss," he concluded.

Arabic Version