Meeting

The National institution for Human Rights (NIHR)’s Committee on Complaints, Monitoring and Follow-up convened its 25th regular monthly meeting via teleconference under the chairpersonship of Ms. Maria Khoury and membership of Dr. Hameed Ahmed Husain, Mr. Ammar Ahmed Al-Banai and Mrs. Rawdha Al-Aradi.

The Committee opened its meeting by revealing verses of congratulations and blessings to the wise leadership and the people of Bahrain on the occasion of the blessed Eid El-fitr. The Committee reviewed its statements related to the complaints received by the NIHR, the legal aids provided and the cases monitored via the media and social media during the period from March 21 until April 22, 2021, where it dealt with (47) complaints, provided (110) legal aids, monitored (10) cases via the media and social media and received (350) calls via the NIHR toll-free hotline during the said period, and discussed the actions taken thereupon.

In the same context, the Committee discussed issues related to the conditions of inmates in the correction, rehabilitation, detention and pretrial detention centres, and the actions taken by the NIHR to ensure that the basic rights of inmates are preserved, including continued communication between the inmates and their families, whether through phone calls or traditional visits for inmates and their families who received anti-Coronavirus vaccination.

The Committee also discussed the course of the field visit that occurred during the past weeks to the Correction and Rehabilitation Centre in Jaw region in order to follow-up the precautionary, medical and treatment measures after monitoring Coronavirus infection cases among inmates and staff, and discuss the field visit to women’s Shelter and Deportation Centre in Hidd region, to closely examine the living conditions at the Centre and the precautionary measures implemented by the Centre’s administration to confront the Coronavirus pandemic, as well as the extent of adherence to human rights standards in dealing with the female detainees.

The Committee continued its discussions on its declared visit to the Correction and Rehabilitation Centre in Jaw region with a view to examining and ensuring the extent of the soundness of actions taken by the Centre’s administration in dealing with a limited number of inmates of the Centre to break the sit-in that occurred during the past weeks, where a delegation of the NIHR reviewed the recordings of the incident and met with a number of inmates and officials in the Centre. The Committee found out that the living condition of the inmates in general if reassuring and at the same time urged the inmates to adhere to the Centre’s rules and regulations and to take advantage of the opportunities available to them to communicate with their families and relatives.

The Committee concluded its discussions in this regard by expressing its thanks to the concerned persons in the Ministry of Interior for their positive response and cooperation to find appropriate solutions to continue preserving inmates’ basic human rights.