The assessments made in this updated report are of great concern to the Bahrain Institute for Rights & Democracy (BIRD), a London-based NGO focused on improving the status of human rights in Bahrain.
Our main concern centres on the refusal of the FCO to accept recommendation by the Foreign Affairs Committee to list Bahrain as a ‘Country of Concern’. While country reports like the US 2013 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bahrain share a much more authentic outlook on the situation in Bahrain, in spite of strong foreign relation ties; we reprehend the UK government for its inability to provide an accurate account of the human rights situation in Bahrain and we denounce its consequent compliancy with the Bahraini government on human rights practices. As a country which has committed itself to sharing ‘best practice measures’ with the government of Bahrain; the continuous lack of accountability in Bahraini security and investigative practices reflected by the continued recurrence of forced confessions as a method of prosecuting dissent – falls on the UK – requiring it to take a stronger and more critical approach to human rights violations in the country.
We strongly believe that the evaluations made in this report, stand in stark contrast to our daily interactions with victims of arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance in the country. As human rights defenders, this evaluation also neglects to inform of the persistent reprisals endured by so many of our colleagues in Bahrain. We specifically remind the FCO of the ongoing charges against Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, who after many weeks of advocacy work in Europe (including in the UK) was arrested and charged upon his return to Bahrain, for a statement he had posted on Twitter. This fact not only highlights a problem of continued reprisals against human rights defenders, but also, a refusal to apply international standards on freedom of expression and opinion.
The FCO’s assertion that “real efforts” are being made “in areas where human rights are concerned” are therefore inaccurate. What we observe in Bahrain is a total lack of implementation and thus a lack of commitment to the recommendations proposed by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) as well as recommendations proposed during Bahrain’s second cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
