Manama Cancels UN Investigator Visit, AI: No Reforms in Bahrain

Local Editor

The UN special rapporteur on torture has expressed his "deep disappointment" over Bahrain's decision to indefinitely postpone his visit to the county.

Juan Mendez accused the Bahraini government of trying to "avoid responsibility" for the postponement.
The country's official news agency said the trip was called off "until further notice", but Mendez said it was "effectively a cancellation".

The UN envoy refuted a Bahraini media statement that claimed he had "put off" his visit.

"Let me be clear," he said, "this was a unilateral decision by the authorities. Unfortunately, it is not the first time the Government has tried to avoid responsibility for the postponement of my visit, which was originally supposed to take place over a year ago."
A spokesperson in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office [FCO] stated the decision was "disappointing". He said FCO minister Alistair Burt, had raised the issue with the Bahraini government "stressing the importance we and the international community place on the visit".
He added: "We hope that a new date for this visit can be found soon."

For its part, Amnesty International slammed the Bahraini authorities decision.
This latest cancellation shows that Bahrain is clearly not serious about implementing human rights reforms. The authorities have used the buzzword of reform as a smoke screen, when in reality they are not reforming," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.

"There are no reforms in Bahrain, but rather human rights abuses continuing unabated."

It further urged the Bahraini government to immediately release all prisoners of conscience and conduct independent, effective and transparent investigations into allegations of torture.
"It must also bring to justice anyone at any level of the chain of command who committed or gave the orders to commit abuses; and refrain from further use of unnecessary or excessive force against protesters.
"Bahrain's allies have been far too keen to rely on the facade of reform and to go on with business as usual. The cancellation of the visit means there is no pretending anymore."

The comments came just days after the release of a US State Department report on human rights in Bahrain which spoke of "significant" violations including torture in detention.
The report spoke of "serious human rights problems", including "citizens' inability to change their government peacefully; arrest and detention of protesters on vague charges, in some cases leading to their torture in detention; and lack of due process in trials of political and human rights activists".

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org