NIHR submits its Parallel Report to the UN Human Rights Committee
As per Article (12), Paragraph (d) of the Law No. (26) of 2014, amended by the Decree-Law No. (20) of 2016, the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR)’s terms of reference in the Kingdom of Bahrain include: “submitting parallel reports, contributing to the drafting and discussion of periodic reports submitted by the Kingdom of Bahrain and making observations thereon, in application of regional and international agreements on human rights, and publishing these reports in the media.
Accordingly, the NIHR in Bahrain submitted its parallel report on the initial report of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the progress made in the implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), to which the Kingdom of Bahrain has acceded under the Law No. (56) of 2006, to the UN Human Rights Committee on Monitoring the Implementation of the CCPR Provisions by State Parties.
The NIHR appreciates the efforts made by Bahrain to submit its initial report to the UN Human Rights Committee on CCPR in line with its belief that this international mechanism is important and effective towards promoting and protecting human rights at the national level, and to fulfill its international obligations arising from ratification or accessing to the core international human rights instruments.
The NIHR has taken the list of issues relating to the initial report of the Kingdom of Bahrain contained in the document (CCPR/C/BHR/Q/1) as an approach in writing its report, which dealt with the most important rights and freedoms recognized by the provisions of the CCPR, which the NIHR believes to cast a shadow over the practical reality and touch the reality of human rights over the past years, and made a number of recommendations that it deems appropriate for the advancement of human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The report referred to the progress made in the implementation of the provisions of the CCPR through the articles of the International Covenant, where it began with definition of the constitutional and legal framework for the implementation of the International Covenant (Article 2), non-discrimination, equality between men and women and the rights of minorities (Articles 2, 3, 18, 23, 26 and 27), prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Articles 7 and 9), access to justice and the independence of the judiciary (Articles 2 and 14), abolition of slavery and servitude (Article 8), freedom of movement (Article 12), freedom of conscience and religious belief (Articles 2, 18 and 26), freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association (Articles 19, 21, 22, 25 and 26) and the right to participate in public life (Articles 25 and 26).
