Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive):

Your highness, the high commissioner,

We have no time for compliments; you neither respected the post of the high commissioner for human rights, nor the UNHCR spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, who announced two days ago that the commissioner decided, unlike the previous times, to openly talk about Bahrain.

You did not even respect the general assembly when placed in your post, for it stipulated in resolution number 141-48 that the high commissioner is expected to perform his or her duties impartially, objectively, effectively, and without selectivity.

Your highness! You did not respect the heritage of the consecutive high commissioners for human rights who were appointed in this position since it was established in the UN in 1994. Six respected high commissioners have been in this post:  José Ayala-Lasso from Ecuador (1994-1997), Mary Robinson from Ireland (1997-2002), Sérgio Vieira de Mello from Brazil (2002-2003)-he served for a short period for he was assassinated in a bombing of a hotel in Baghdad in 2013-, Bertrand G. Ramcharan from Guyan (2003-2004 by proxy), Louise Arbour from Canada (2004-2005) and Navanethem Pillay from South Africa (2008-2014).

You did not respect the Bahraini people and their peaceful struggles for defending human rights. You ignored Bahrain’s human rights case for known political reasons; the case that has always formed a main plate in the periodic review of the human rights council.

Your highness,

Your speech in the opening of the 27^th session of the human rights council will stay in the memory of the council as: the first Arab and Muslim figure who assumed the post of the high commissioner for human rights and who started his first speech ignoring the intentional violations of the human rights in an Arab and Muslim country; Bahrain.

Your highness, the Arab commissioner,

You are not a representative for an Arab country; you don’t represent the policies of the third Arab world. Thus, you can’t ignore the state of Bahraini human rights for 4 years. Your political speech (and not the human rights one, for ignoring the status of the human rights makes your speech political) won’t help you innovate a method to escape from the critical direct announcement regarding the concerned human rights situation in Bahrain.

Your highness, the commissioner,

Bahrainis are experts in monitoring the systemic violations practiced by the Bahraini government against them. They excel in writing human rights reports. From the moment they decided that their revolution wouldbe peaceful, they prepared an army of professional human rights activists,  whose voices are loud and noisy to the ones who ignore them. Thus, we advise you to talk about the Bahraini human rights status in a way that allows you to maintain the honor of your post and respond to the political dictatorship world that presses on your speech which ought to be eminent and reconciles with  human rights no matter where it is delivered.

 Your highness, the commissioner,

The Bahraini human rights activists have been able during all the previous sessions to document the human rights status in Bahrain in the human right’s council agenda. They also succeeded to shed light on the case and were able to make 47 countries, in the previous session,condemn the human rights situation in Bahrain. These activists managed to push most of the world’s countries to issue 167 recommendations asking the Bahraini government to improve human rights, during the UPR process in 2012. You have to read all of this and take it into consideration while preparing for your coming speech.

Your highness,

The politicians maneuver with us because they are liars. They ignore us because they are pragmaticsts. However, the high commissioners have always respected us. Don’t be disrespectful so you don’t lose your honor.

النسخة العربية