Workshop for drawing a plan for human rights in Bahrain

A workshop started yesterday in al-Manama on drawing a national plan for human rights in Bahrain. It is organized by the Bahrain's society for human rights, which is an independent society, in collaboration with the Arab Institute for Human Rights and the Higher Commission of Human rights of the United Nations UNHCR.

The secretary general of the Bahrain's society for human rights Sabeika al-Najjar said in an inaugural speech of the workshop that its objective is to draw the main lines of the national human rights plan. She expressed the hope that the government and people's establishments will work to crystallize these lines and draw a strategy and provisional plans to reactivate what the workshop will conclude. She added that enhancing human rights in any country only comes through disseminating and spreading awareness on these rights so as to become a daily practice. She stressed this will not be attainable unless there is seriousness to build the country of the establishments and the law and expand the margin of freedom and democracy.

However, the director of the Arab institute for human rights, Abdul Baset Bin Hassan, in an inaugural speech, described the workshop as " a pioneering initiative for the Arab states, adding it " expresses a people and official awareness on the importance of searching for best means to improve human rights." This workshop whose works will continue until Thursday, is attended by 80 members of local people's civilian societies and participants from the ministries of foreign affairs, the interior, justice, and information and members of the two Shoura and parliaments councils.

Human rights conditions witnessed an improvement in Bahrain on the reforms launched by the King of Bahrain Hamad Bin Issa al-Khalifa. According to an amnesty in February 2001 all political detainees were released and exiled were permitted to return home back.

Bahrain's human rights society which was the first of its kind there was established in February 2001. It was followed by other legal societies.