Washington DC, November 22nd – With the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) set to release its awaited human rights report tomorrow, Wednesday November 23, UMAA joined leaders from organizations such as the Project on Middle East Democracy, Human Rights Watch, the Brookings Institution, and various universities in signing onto the following letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The letter highlights deep concerns regarding human rights violations that have occurred in Bahrain since February 2011 and outlines actions to be taken by the Government of Bahrain to follow up on its promises of accountability and reform. Such actions include, but are not limited to:
–Unconditional release of political prisoners,
–Halting the use of torture methods with detainees,
–Protecting and rebuilding Shi’a places of worship that have been targeted and/or demolished,
–Ending systematic political and economic discrimination,
–Reinstatement of wrongfully dismissed workers who peacefully participated in protests, and
–Cooperation with independent human rights entities, such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the U.N., in investigations of widespread abuses.
The letter goes on to discuss the democratic demands of Bahrainis, which include equal voting rights, an independent, impartial, and transparent judicial system, and elimination of systematic discrimination across the board in order to enfranchise the majority of the population.
The significance of the BICI report lies in the fact that the U.S. Government has been waiting for its release before proceeding with a) possibly placing greater pressure on the Government of Bahrain to substantially address sustained human rights violations and b) deciding on a proposed $53 million arms sale to the Government of Bahrain. Both the Senate and House of Representatives proposed joint resolutions (Senate Joint Resolution 28 and House Joint Resolution 80) in October 2011 that limited the offer of the arms sale at least until the release of the BICI report.
Click here to view the PDF of the aforementioned letter to Secretary Clinton.
