– Bahrain role in human rights organizations

The Kingdom of Bahrain established the National Human Rights Institution in the year 2010 to reaffirm its commitment towards protecting and maintaining human rights across the country. This institution had representatives from all over the Bahrain society and giving the opportunity for the people to voice their opinion about human rights through their representatives. This institution conducts periodic reviews as per the guidelines laid down by the United Nations Human Rights Council to ensure that the highest level of regards is given to the human rights in the country and also to ensure that there is maximum protection given to the people and institutions in the country, especially women and children.

As a country, Bahrain plays an important role in guarding the rights of its citizens. It partners with many human rights organizations to ensure that human rights are well protected. For instance, there is a human rights organization called Bahrain center for human rights (BCHR). The institution is a non-profit organization that works to promote human rights in Bahrain. BCHR was founded in 2002 by a number of activists based in Bahrain. However, the center was ordered to dissolve after its president Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was arrested in 2004. This was after its president criticitsed Bahrain’s prime minister, khalifah ibn Sulman Al khalifah at a seminar held in Bahrain. The former president of BCHR blamed the country’s prime minister for the widespread economic issues that were facing the country during that time. Although the government has banned the center from operating in the country, it has remained active.

BCHR is an organization that aims at creating a successful democratic country that does not violate human rights and a country that does not discriminate against anyone. It encourages and supports groups and individuals to be proactive in protecting their own rights and other people’s rights. The organizations encourage people to promote democracy and human rights according to international norms. The mission of BCHR is based on four objectives. One of the objectives is to promote freedom and basic rights such as political, economic and civil rights. It ensures that all the citizens of Bahrain have equal rights. The second objective of BCHR is to combat racial discrimination. The organizations ensure that all the citizens of Bahrain are given equal treatment regardless of their skin color. BCHR aims at disseminating human rights culture. It also aims at making contributions to support and protect the vulnerable and the victims of human rights violation.

For many years, Bahrain has been considered as the foundation ancient civilization; it is built on peace and harmony. The geographical location and human heritage of the country enables it to embrace the co-existence of people from various cultures and religious backgrounds. The country partners with many governmental and nongovernmental organizations to promote values such as respect to all human beings regardless of their religion, race or cultural background (Nuruzzaman, 2015).

Additionally, the government of Bahrain has come up with legislations that govern religion, freedom of opinions, labor laws, criminalization of people traffickers and legislations that support human rights organizations. This shows that Bahrain is a country which recognizes the rights and liberty of the people living in the country. It works with different human rights organizations to help people understand and observe human rights (Wright, 2006). The government of Bahrain has signed and ratified various local and international agreements and conventions to promote human rights in      the country. Some of these conventions include; ICCPR (international Covenant on Civil and political rights, the Arab Charter of Human Rights, internal convention on eradication of all types of racial discrimination, ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights. the other conventions include CAT (convention against torture) and the convention on children rights which protects children from being involved in armed conflicts, child trafficking, participating in prostitution or acting pornography. The country has also signed a convention that protects the disabled people living in Bahrain.

By developing instruments of political participation, Bahrain continues to establish itself as a country which committed to ensuring integrity and transparency. The country has adopted a system that consists of the parliament and shura councils. Bahrain has given independence to National Institute for Human rights. This helps the country to successfully develop its human rights mechanisms. Also, the country has established a commission that protects the rights and liberties of detainees and prisoners. The commission is a special investigations unit within the office of public prosecution. It carries out thorough investigation and ensures that no detainees are ill-treated and that they all the detainees are given fair trial. Bahrain has also established Ombudsman office in the ministry of interior. All these things are done to promote and protect human rights in the kingdom of Bahrain.

In addition, Bahrain has created its institute for human rights. The main aim of the national institute of human rights acts as a supreme council for women living in Bahrain. The organizations ensure that there is gender equality. This is done by empowering women by educating them and ensuring that they get jobs. The national institute for human rights ensures that women rights are exercised in accordance with the constitution of the kingdom of Bahrain and the set legislations. Moreover, BIPD (Bahrain institute for political Development) educates people about politics and encourages them to practice and protect their own rights and those of the people surrounding them.

Bahrain has partnered with United Nations and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations to promote and protect the rights of its citizens. For example, it partnered with United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The main aim of this partnership was to come up with several procedures of dealing with criminal activities and drugs. The partnership has led to establishment of laws that strictly criminalize torture and inhuman treatment of the citizens of Bahrain. It has also prompted the country to adopt of a new code of conduct for police in accordance with international policing laws (Redondo, 2008). These laws ensure that the judiciary arm of Bahrain acts independently. It promotes and protects human rights within the police department. Therefore, all the detainees and prisoners given fair trial; they are not tortured or forced to confess their crimes.

The kingdom of Bahrain does not limit the human rights organizations. The countries do limit their efforts on setting laws and legislations. Both the country and the human rights organizations participate in many areas such as economic, developmental and educational spheres. However, all these efforts are supposed to operate within the established governmental guidelines and in accordance with Bahrain’s framework of its vision 2030. The kingdom of Bahrain normally carries out media and educational initiatives and programs. The goal of these programs is to promote and reinforce the spirit of tolerance, national unity and peaceful co-existence among the people living in the kingdom of Bahrain. The country forbids incitement of hatred, violence, terrorism and sectarianism in all media and religious podiums. The government of Bahrain insists that the human rights organizations should carry out their activities in accordance with the country’s constitution, laws, international conventions and agreements.

Another human rights organization that helps to promote and protect human rights in the kingdom of Bahrain is human rights watch (HRW). It is an international organization that works closely with the government of Bahrain to conduct research and advocate for human rights in the country. Human rights watch pressures the government of Bahrain, policy makers and abusers of human rights to stop abusing human right and start respecting them. This organization normally works on behalf of children, migrants, political prisoners and refugees. It gives analyses the human rights in the kingdom of Bahrain and gives the country a report on human rights. The reports help the country to know the area of human rights they act upon.

After the government of Bahrain made several political reforms, Bahrain human rights society (BHRS) was set up. The government of Bahrain has given Bahrain human rights society the independence; the society can function independently. This means the government does not interfere with its activities. BHRS produces a yearly report on human rights in the kingdom of Bahrain. It liaises with the country and other international organizations to carry out human rights activism in the country. Also, the country makes efforts to build a politically and constitutionally modern society. Therefore, it has played an important role in creating a reform program which facilitates the implementation of the requirements of the national charter action agreement that was approved by most of the people living in the kingdom of Bahrain. The country encourages people to embrace all the changes made by the human rights organizations.