Brussels, 26/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - Just two years since the publication of the final report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) on the events of February and March 2011 (see EUROPE 10737), EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton encouraged the authorities, on 25 November, to “implement all BICI recommendations in a timely and complete fashion”, and noted that “much remains to be done”. “Establishing new institutions is important but they must now produce concrete results in order to win the confidence of the public. In particular, more needs to be done on accountability and the fight against impunity regarding deaths and allegations of torture during the 2011 unrest and in response to ongoing allegations of abuse”, Ashton's spokesman states in a press release.
Ashton welcomed the measures already taken by the government for setting BICI recommendations in place, including the operational launch of the office of the Ministry of the Interior Ombudsman, encouraging it to act “independently and effectively”. She described the creation of the “Prisoners and Detainees' Commission”, which will monitor places of detention in order to prevent torture and ill-treatment, as an “important initiative”. Ashton then underlined the increasingly active role assumed by the National Institution for Human Rights since it has been reformed.
The EU welcomed the publication, on 1 December this year, of the third progress report on the implementation of BICI recommendations, Ashton's spokesman adds.
Further call to dialogue
The EU's foreign policy chief, Ashton, also invited the government to go beyond the BICI recommendations and to address those made under the UN Universal Periodic Review. “The success of this process very much depends on the constructive cooperation between the government, the opposition and all Bahraini citizens”, Ashton pointed out, urging once again all parties to “seize peaceful dialogue channels without preconditions, rejecting violence in all its forms, in order to achieve lasting reconciliation”. (CG/transl.jl)