“Human rights is not a cosmetic solution, it is an essential part attached to the people of Bahrain. We prepared our report in a non-politicised and transparent manner with participation from stakeholders,” said the minister to 48 delegates from other countries.
Bahrain is the first country in order for the UPR session, the council will review human rights record of 48 countries in three batches of 16 each this year.
The UPR process will be repeated three times a year until all 192 members of the United Nations have been scrutinised, after which it will start over.
Al Bahrana spoke about the new Press law, which is being studied, and the migrant workers protection law.
“We are studying the new draft law which gives more rights and privileges to female domestic workers. There are occasional abuse but we welcome dialogue,” the minister said.
The session was shown live through weblinks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
Women and migrant issues dominated the three-hour interactive dialogue. The Bahrain Human Rights Report prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was appreciated by all the member states who said Bahrain is a model for other countries to follow.
Shura Member Sameera Rajab, who was part of the Bahraini delegation, replying to a question on legislations for women said: “We will continue to amend legislations which discriminate against women. There is a law enacted which provided maternity leave for women. In addition, we are working to amend the state budget to promote gender equality.”
Deputy, Latifa Al Gaoud said: “The parliament has discussed proposals to tackle corruption. The MPs unanimously approved the proposal for setting up of a National Human Rights Commission.”
Al Baharna told the members of the Council that the Bahraini cabinet had approved a move to establish a commission this year.
The Bahraini delegation was asked several questions during the session. An official from the Ministry of Education said they had trained 10,000 teachers for human rights curriculum, which he said, was taught in schools.
“We have introduced a new subject on citizenship for primary and secondary schools. There are also plans to introduce the subject of human rights in all schools,” said the official.
Bahrain’s commitment to combat human trafficking took the centrestage, as one official said that human trafficking was a global phenomenon.
Citing the new legislation, which prosecutes offenders, the official said the law was considered as a model for Arab countries to adopt.
In his concluding address to the Council members, Al Baharna spoke about the law of unemployment.
“A target for development can only be achieved if one invests in people. Seven thousand men and women were provided jobs, as part of our plan to employ every individual. We assure the member states that we will commit to the challenges in the four-year action plan,” he added.
