Closing Statement

The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) held its sixthconference under the title "The International Community and Challenges of HumanRights Reform in Bahrain" on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 in Beirut, in thepresence of representatives from Bahraini, Arab and international human rightsorganizations.

The conference discussed the dangerous developments of the humanrights situation in Bahrain and the international mechanisms for enhancing the principlesof human rights. It also discussed a group of recommendations presented to theBahrain human rights Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in May 2017 in Geneva.

At the end of this conference, and after listening to the opinionsof the participating human rights experts and activists, the BFHR adopts thefollowing results:

1. The fundamentalrights and freedoms are seriously deteriorating in Bahrain, especially after promotingimpunity, introducing local legislations which contradict the principles ofhuman rights, restricting freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, religion andbelief, and association, prosecuting dissidents, activists and human rightsdefenders through unfair trials – since the judicial authorities are involvedin the revenge of dissidents and human rights defenders – and confiscatingcivil and political rights.

2. The right to peacefulassembly is banned in Bahrain since 2014. The Law on Public Gatherings imposed unnecessaryrestrictions to criminalize the right to peaceful assembly, and the Bahrainiauthorities’ enforcement of the law was characterized by arbitraryinterpretation of the restrictions set forth in the International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights.

3. The Bahrainiauthorities imposed arbitrary restrictions on the establishment ofnon-governmental organizations, and unjustifiably intervened in the organizations’affairs to the extent of suspending and dissolving or prosecuting them, throughCivil Associations Law and Political Associations Law.

4. The Bahrainiauthorities provided themselves with a legal pretext for arbitrary deprivationof citizenships, through the Bahraini Citizenship Act and the Terrorism Law. Inaddition, the Bahraini authorities failed to provide effective administrativeor judicial reference for those who were stripped of their nationalities, and stirredup lawsuits of illegal stay and forced deportation against some them.

5. The Ombudsman, the SpecialInvestigation Unit, and the National Institution for Human Rights failed to fulfilltheir human rights roles. Therefore, there is an urgent need to bring aboutlegislative amendments that ensure the principle of independence of these humanrights bodies, particularly the National Institution for Human Rights, which wasestablished in contrary to the Paris Principles.

The BFHR emphasized thenecessity of the following:

1.     The Bahraini authoritiesmust immediately and seriously implement the Bahrain Independent Commission ofInquiry (BICI) recommendations, and those of the UPR. They should also removethe ban imposed on the right to peaceful assembly, and stop adopting local lawsin order to restrict the right to freedom of expression.

2.     The Bahraini authoritiesmust stop practicing forced disappearance, halt extra-judicial killings,guarantee fair trials for citizens, and allow observers to attend those trials.

3.     We demand the UnitedStates of America to freeze all weapon deals with the Bahraini government andreconsider every decision which supports the Bahraini government and directlyor indirectly causes human rights violations. We also call on the UnitedKingdom not to allow the Bahraini government to use the security supportprovided by the UK to further suppress freedoms and commit crimes againsthumanity.

4.     We emphasize Bahrain’sneed for international monitoring over the performance of the agencies createdby the Bahraini authorities after the BICI report to reveal the truths.

5.     There is an urgent need forinternational monitoring of the implementation of the BICI recommendations andthose of the UPR on Bahrain, after issuing binding decisions for the Bahrainiauthorities to enhance the human rights situation.

Wealso call on the Member States of the Human Rights Council to adopt thefollowing recommendations during the Bahrain human rights UPR:

1.    Appoint a UN special rapporteur on Bahrain, and pressure theBahraini authorities to allow UN special rapporteurs to visit Bahrain andsupervise the internal situation, especially the UN Special Rapporteur on tortureand other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, SpecialRapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, SpecialRapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and Special Rapporteuron freedom of religion or belief.

2.    Form an international investigations committee on all violationsin Bahrain, which would present binding recommendations to the Bahrainiauthorities in order to improve the human rights situation.

3.    Establish a regional office for the Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rights with full powers.

4.    Urge Bahrain to join the Rome Statute of the InternationalCriminal Court and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, andrelease all prisoners of conscience including human rights defenders, politicalactivists and religious scholars.

5.    Urge Bahrain to amend local legislations to guarantee the right topeaceful assembly, freedom of expression and citizenship, and demand it to urgentlylift the siege imposed on Diraz.

6.    Call on the Bahraini authorities to cancel all citizenshiprevocation verdicts and bring back the deportees.

7.    We urge European Union states and other HRC member states tocall on the Bahraini authorities to end death row sentences, halt theirimplementation against all prisoners of conscience, and consider thispunishment to be a deprivation of the right to life.

8.    Adapt local legislations with international laws in order toensure the independence of religious affairs and protection of freedom ofbelief.

9.    Develop legislative guarantees which prevent any otherauthorities from interfering in the work of the Judicial Authority.

10.              Ask the Bahraini government to be open and to enhance trust withthe components of society to begin national reconciliation.

11.              Demand the Bahraini government to stop using the militaryinstitution and its courts in the cases of prisoners of conscience.