Bahrain Mirror: Amnesty International issued on its website a report addressing recommendations at 13 states, among them Bahrain. The recommendations are hoped to be considered at the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) 27th session to be held in Geneva between 1 and 12 May, 2017.

Recommendations concerning Bahrain came under 11 different titles, with a total 26 recommendations that highlight the most blatant human right violations committed by the government of Bahrain against its people.

Amnesty called on the Government of Bahrain to "ensure the full implementation of all the recommendations by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, in particular ensuring thorough, impartial and independent investigations into all human rights violations and abuses committed during the uprising in 2011." It also demanded the government to allow international NGOs to visit Bahrain and to carry out their human rights work without restrictions.

Moreover, the international human rights watchdog demanded Bahrain to ensure the independence and impartiality in practice of the national human rights institutions, in particular the Special Investigations Unit, the Ombudsman. Also, it called for ensuring that any detainees are fully protected against torture and other ill-treatment, and any state officials accused of torture or other abuse of detainees are immediately suspended pending investigation, and ensuring confidentiality and protection of victims from reprisals during and following the conduct of their investigations.

Under the title of harassment and attack against human rights defenders, Amnesty reiterated the importance of immediately and unconditionally releasing all prisoners of conscience imprisoned solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and demanded that the travel ban is lifted.

Amnesty also demanded to immediately lift the ban imposed on peaceful protests in Manama and guarantee the right to peaceful assembly. It also stressed it to end the practice of arbitrarily revoking citizenship, and to reinstate the citizenship of those arbitrarily stripped of their nationality.

Under the title "Unfair trial, torture and other ill-treatment", Amnesty stressed that all trials are conducted in line with international fair trial standards, including by ensuring prompt access to legal assistance equality of arms between the prosecution and the defense, and thorough investigations into allegations of torture in pre-trial detention.

In the same context, Amnesty demanded Bahrain to commute all death sentences, and ensure that the death penalty, is not under any circumstances, imposed in violation of the guarantees provided for in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It also called upon it to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

Under its "International Justice" title, Amnesty confirmed Bahrain's need to promptly ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to accede to the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court, the 1968 Convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and to Adhere to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Amnesty also stressed the need for Bahrain's to promptly ratify and implement the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits the transfer of arms that could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

Furthermore, the international organization believed Bahrain must become party to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families; the first and second Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

It also called upon it to become party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Arabic Version