NIHR Welcomes the Outputs of the European Union’s Annual Report 2022 on the Human Rights Situation in the Kingdom of Bahrain
The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) has welcomed the contents of the European Union’s annual report 2022 on human rights and democracy, which praised the human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and addressed the most important achievements of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the human rights field.
For his part, Eng. Ali Ahmed Al-Derazi, Chairman of the NIHR, stated that the report reflects the course of the meetings held by the NIHR with representatives of the European Union, in which the true and realistic situation of human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain was presented, the emphasis on the State’s respect for the principles on which human rights are based, and the NIHR’s role in closely monitoring the human rights situation based on its terms of reference as stipulated in its Establishment Law.
Al-Derazi added that the EU report’s welcoming of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s undertaking of a number of steps, including the establishment of human rights mechanisms such as the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for the Rights of Prisoners and Detainees, and granting them the authority to register complains, to refer suspected cases of human rights violations to law enforcement authorities, and to conduct undeclared visits to correction and rehabilitation centres, and transferring responsibility for providing healthcare to inmates of correction centres from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Health, as well as the amendments aimed at expanding the application of the alternative sanctions programme, the adoption of the National Human Rights Plan for the years 2022-2026, the cooperation in various programmes and forums set up by the EU, and the preparations for the Universal Periodic Review of the Kingdom of Bahrain held in November 2022, all had the greatest impact in raising the human rights level in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Al-Derazi stated that the boom witnessed by the Kingdom of Bahrain in the field of human rights is the result of the reforms initiated by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the great king of the State, by enacting legislation and issuing laws that support human rights, which have been emphasised by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, in the meeting held with His Highness recently, regarding the government’s interest in the human rights file, and the importance of the NIHR playing its role and executing its terms of reference with full transparency and independence.
