Meeting

The NIHR's Complaints, Monitoring, and Follow-up held its fifteenth regular meeting chaired by Her Excellency Ms. Maria Khouri. Present were Committee’s members His Excellency Dr. Hameed Hussein and Her Excellency Dr. Mona Hijris.

During the meeting, all the complaints and requests for assistance received by the NIHR since the Committee’s previous meeting in June 2016 were reviewed. Since January 2016 to date, the Committee has received 93 complaints and 80 requests for assistance and legal consultation, aside from monitoring comments in the press and social media regarding some claims that fall within its jurisdiction.

The Committee studied such claims for verification first, after which they were dealt with and followed-up on. Furthermore, the Committee reviewed reports on the Complaints, Monitoring, and Follow-up Committee and Secretariat- General presence in some court cases to assess the level of their conformity with international standards related to the right of a fair trial.

On another note, the Committee discussed the Secretariat-General proposal with regards to Decree-Law referred to the NIHR by the Council of Representatives to amend Clause (W) of Article (12) of Law No. (26) of the year 2014 on establishing the NIHR. The proposal aims at granting the NIHR quasi-judicial competence in dealing with the complaints it receives through the expansion of its jurisdiction to include the possibility of offering reconciliations and amicable settlements for the complaints received, or assisting the relevant entities in settling them. The Committee decided it would be best to

postpone such consideration, while deeply appreciating the Council of Representative’s proposal regarding this matter in particular.

The Committee also discussed a proposal to establish a hotline that for the NIHR in public detention centers that fall under the General Administration of Reform and Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Interior. The Committee delegated the study of this proposal to the Secretariat-General.

In addition, the Committee discussed the General Secretariat’s view on the placement of complaint-boxes in detention centers, as such proposals come within the integrative framework of what specific standing committees offer in terms of the promotion and protection of human rights in the Kingdom.

The Committee's Chairperson, along with its members, expressed her gratitude to the authorities concerned at the General Administration of Reform and Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Interior Affairs for their continued cooperation to clarify matters and enlighten those who request assistance. Furthermore, the Committee thanked all relevant entities that communicate with the Committee to through effective cooperation and mutual action in order to achieve the desired results with regards to the complaints and requests for assistance sent to the NIHR, while hoping that all those interested in requests for assistance would elicit true and correct information from their sources.

The Committee can be reached for matters that fall in its jurisdiction at the NIHR headquarters in the Seef district, through its website at www.nihr.org.bh, phone at 17111666, or by smart phone applications from anywhere.