NIHR Participates in a Workshop on “Preparation of Parallel Reports” in Cairo
The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), represented by the Legal Researcher at NIHR’s Legal Affairs Department Prof. Shaikha Al-Olaiwi, participated in a workshop on “the Preparation of Parallel Reports”, which was organized by the Arab Human Rights Committee (AHRC) in cooperation with the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions (ANNHRI), at the headquarters of the League of Arab States in Cairo, the Capital of Egypt, which lasted for two days.
The workshop aimed at the acquisition of knowledge on the Arab Charter on Human Rights (ACHR) as well as the Arab Human Rights Committee (AHRC) and how to prepare the reports in accordance with the AHRC’s guiding principles and guidelines for the preparation or reports. The workshop further devoted a session for the Commission to discuss the role of national mechanisms for following-up the completion of concluding the feedback and recommendations of the committees of treaty.
The Arab Human Rights Committee (the Charter Committee) is considered an Arab mechanism emanating from the Arab Charter on Human Rights (ACHR), which entered into effect on 16 March 2006 after being endorsed by 7 Arab countries, including Bahrain. The Committee comprises seven members elected by the Arab State Parties to the Charter, who work independently from the Arab governments and the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, in order to assess the human rights conditions in those countries, through studying their national reports and the extent to which they abide by the provisions of the Charter, and provide them with feedback and recommendations in order to foster and protect the human rights therein.
It is worth noting that the Kingdom of Bahrain has previously discussed its first national report before the Arab Human Rights Committee (the Charter Committee) during its third session held in February 2003, in which the Committee concluded several observations and recommendations on the enhancement and protection of human rights in the state. The Kingdom of Bahrain is expected to discuss its first periodic report before the Committee early next year 2017.
