Bahrain Mirror: The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights criticized the exclusion of three candidates for the Bahrain Human Rights Society on the grounds that they belonged to the dissolved "Wa'ad" association.

The forum said that the procedure is an early announcement of the authorities' intentions, and exposes its alleged hollow rights reforms.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has sent a letter to the Bahrain Human Rights Society rejecting the candidacy of: Mr. Abduljalil Yousef; Lawyer Issa Ibrahim; and Mr. Mohsen Matar, on the pretext that they are former members of the National Democratic Action Society Wa'ad.

The forum revealed that the security scrutiny that the ministry resorts to intends to deprive every citizen, to whom the Political Isolation Law applies, their right to engage in civil society institutions and NGOs.

This is done by exploiting "Law No. (25) of 2018, amending Article Three of Decree-Law No. (14) of 2002, regarding the exercise of political rights".

The BFHR underscored that the authorities have miserably failed in their commitment to the minimum requirements, imposed by international law on freedom of association, especially as the law on NGOs is thoroughly incompatible with the international human rights law's standards.

Arabic Version