قدّم الأستاذ عبدالهادي الخواجة مداخلة نيابة عن مركز القاهرة لدراسات حقوق الانسان خلال المراجعة الشاملة لسجل البحرين الحقوقي أمام مجلس حقوق الإنسان التابع للأمم المتحدة، المداخلة تم مقاطعتها بشكل متكرر من قبل ممثلين لحكومات عربية، واثارت الكثير من المناقشات، حيث قدم الخواجة مداخلة باسم مركز القاهرة لدراسات حقوق الانسان، اشار فيها الى المداخلة المكتوبة التي سبق ان قدمها للمجلس كل من مركز القاهرة ومركز البحرين لحقوق الانسان والجمعية البحرينية لحقوق الانسان، والتي تم فيها التقييم الشامل لموارد الخلل في آلية المراجعة الشاملة وفقا لتجربة البحرين.
ثم تطرقة الورقة للحقوق المدنية والسياسية التي قالت عنها المداخلة بانها لم تلق العناية الكافية في التقارير والمناقشات. فتطرق الخواجة الى عدم تمتع الشعب البحريني بحق تغيير حكومته بشكل سلمي، وحرمانه من تشكيل الاحزاب السياسية، ثم تحدث عن صلاحيات الديوان الملكي في موارد الدولة والاراضي ومنح الجنسية والتي يتم اساءة استخدامها في التمييز الطائفي والغلبة السياسية وانتهاك الحقوق الاقتصادية والاجتماعية. كما تطرقت المداخلة الى التغييرات الدستورية التي قام بها الملك والتي تعطيه الحق في تعيين نصف المجلس الوطني، وبأنه يحكم البلاد بالتعاون مع عمه رئيس الوزراء و12 من افراد عائلته كوزراء. وبأن الملك يعين جميع اعضاء المحكمة الدستورية وكذلك المجلس الاعلى للقضاء.
 

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

Oral Intervention
Agenda Item 6: UPR Review - Bahrain
8th Session of the Human Rights Council – Geneva
9 June 2008
Delivered by Abdulhadi Alkhawaja


Thank you Mr. President,

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), in cooperation with its partner organization the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, applauds Bahrain for its cooperation with the UPR and the pledges it has made during this process.

In this regard, the CIHRS calls upon the Bahrain Government to take into consideration the document signed by 47 national, regional and international NGO’s which was submitted on 19th of May 2008 to the State minister for foreign affairs. The document, which was based on a compilation prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, consolidates and strengthens government pledges.

Secondly, the Cairo Institute asks this Council to take in consideration the joint written statement submitted to the 8th Session of the HRC by the Cairo Institute in cooperation with the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS). This statement contains an evaluation of the UPR process dealing with Bahrain. In particular it points out the lack of a genuine review of some states human rights policies due to uncritical state interventions during the UPR review; a practice which greatly threatens the legitimacy of the entire UPR process.

Mr. President..

We believe that all the rights contained in the Universal Declaration for Human Rights are of equal importance, however during the UPR review of Bahrain, an insufficient amount of consideration was given to political and civil rights in Bahrain. This was done in disregard for the information contained in the stakeholders’ report prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In this regard, the Cairo Institute and its partner organization would like to highlight the following:
1. The people of Bahrain are unable to change their government peacefully and are not allowed to form political parties
2. The king of Bahrain rules the country with the assistance of his uncle as prime minister and 12 other members of the royal family who head 50% of the ministries, including the defense, the interior, the justice and the foreign affairs.
3. The Royal Court controls a large portion of state revenues and all public lands and has an open hand to grant nationality to non-Bahrainies on political and sectarian grounds, leading to a wide range of sectarian discrimination and violations of economic and social rights.
4. According to a constitutional amendment created by the King, the King appoints half of the members of the National Assembly while the other half are elected based on gerrymandering to marginalize the majority Shia and political opponents. The King also appoints all members of the Constitutional Court and all members of the Supreme Judicial Council.

Moreover, Bahrainis are denied the right to petition their government;
• In 2005, the government threatened four opposition groups with the closing their organizations, and the arrest of their members if they aided in the collection of signatures on a petition calling for constitutional reforms. In reaction, a similar petition, which attracted 82,000 signatures, was submitted on the 14th of August 2006 to the office of the Secretary General of the United Nations in New York.
• Most recently, the Royal court has rejected a request dated 23 April 2008 for a meeting with the king to submit a new petition signed by more than 54,000 citizens calling for the resignation of the current Prime Minister, accusing him of corruption and for being responsible of human rights abuses during the last 37 years in power. Furthermore, the authorities have used force to disrupt two seminars related to this petition, which have lead to many arrests and injuries of innocent civilians, including Majeed Al-Qattan, 26 years, who is still in a coma at Salmaneya hospital after being shot in the head by a rubber bullet.

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies calls upon the distinguish members of this Council to take into account the content and recommendations of NGO’s Written Statements and to give suitable importance to all rights, including civil and political rights when forming recommendations to Bahrain.

Thank you Mr. President.