The Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) was set up in 2002 following wide ranging political
reforms
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
by the
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
i government to allow the functioning of independent
human rights groups.
In 2010 the government dissolved the BHRS's board of directors, leaving the group's future in doubt.
Background
BHRS is the main human rights group in Bahrain, and while several of its members are associated with the main leftist opposition group, the
National Democratic Action
The National Democratic Labour Action Society – Wa'ad ( ar, جمعية العمل الوطني الديمقراطي – وعد) is Bahrain's largest leftist political party.
History and profile
It emerged from the Popular Front, a "radical" ...
, BHRS is generally respected for its professionalism. The Society's leadership, including president Dr Sabika Al Najjar and vice president Salman Kamaluddin, were former political prisoners and exiles who returned to Bahrain in 2001.
BHRS produces an annual report on human rights in Bahrain, liaises with international organisations and carries out human rights activism in Bahrain. It has worked with international human rights organisations including the controversial American group,
Freedom House
Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
. The Society was charged with organising the parallel conference of Arab NGOs during the
G8 Summit on Middle East reform, the
Forum for the Future 2005, held in Bahrain in November 2005.
On 24 December 2005, the Society became the first NGO in the Arab world to carry out a prison inspection when it visited Jaw prison. The party visiting Jaw included activists, doctors, and psychiatric nurses with the purpose at examining the facilities, the treatment of prisoners and looking for any signs of abuse.
Summarising Bahrain's human rights situation in November 2005, leading activist and former exile Abdulnabi Al Ekri stated:
:I was in exile and now I am back in my country saying what I believe without hesitation. The best thing is we can organise in this space. It doesn't make me satisfied or content to say "everything is okay", but it doesn't mean I can deny the positive changes that have been made. Redress needs to be made for the past and reforms need to be made concrete.
In March 2006, the
Gulf News
''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was first launched in 1978, and is currently distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf Countries. Its online edition was launch ...
newspaper claimed that the Society's Abdulnabi Al Ekri had accused the
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; ar, مركز البحرين لحقوق الإنسان) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain, Nabeel Rajab and Abduljalil Singace of being motivated by 'personal gain'. In response, Singace wrote to Gulf News refuting the claims and reserved the right to seek legal redress. The three activists met the following week and Al Ekri clarified that the Gulf News reporter had in fact falsified his words.
See also
*
Human rights in Bahrain
References
External links
Bahrain Human Rights Society
60 Second Interview of Abdulnabi Al Ekri in the Gulf Daily News, 14 November 2005
Human rights organisations based in Bahrain
Politics of Bahrain
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