Bahrain Mirror: During her intervention in the inter-parliamentary union conference, Dutch Senator Petra Stienen called on IPU president Duarte Pacheco to urge Bahrain to overturn its decision to deny entry to Human Rights Watch representatives to attend the conference held in Manama.

Stienen expressed in her speech during the 146th IPU General Assembly "concerns about the fact that the visas for Human Rights Watch delegation were withdrawn two days before the start of the IPU meeting," noting that "HRW is an organization that defends core IPU values on which we can't compromise in anyway."

She called on the IPU president to re-consider the letter sent by human rights organizations regarding banning the entry of HRW representatives to Bahrain.

Bahraini authorities revoked the entry visas they had issued on January 30, 2023 to two Human Rights Watch staff members to attend the 146th IPU Assembly,  although it holds permanent observer status with the IPU.

HRW said in a statement that ". The organization's slogan is "For democracy. For everyone," and the theme of the 146th Assembly is "Promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: Fighting intolerance."

These statements are in stark contrast to the extensive record of serious human rights abuses in Bahrain that Human Rights Watch and other rights organizations have documented, Human Rights Watch said.

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