Bahrain’s top opposition group, Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has delivered a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres.
The letter reviews Bahrain’s general political scene, and highlights the alarming crises that the people have long been enduring as a result of the rampant corruption, lack of freedoms and human rights, and the absence of justice, which all have led to the lack of political and security stability in the country.
Al-Wefaq’s letter has also dealt with a number of important topics, including the miserable reality of Bahrain’s notorious prisons, whereby thousands of prisoners of conscience, human rights defenders, journalists and media professionals are arbitrarily held, including al-Wefaq’s SG, Shiekh Ali Salman.
The letter has emphasized that the people of Bahrain are deprived of their most basic rights that are affirmed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the two international covenants, and other international laws, foremost of which is the right to life. The letter, maintains, that they are deprived of political participation, especially in the 3 main authorities, of the equitable distribution of wealth, of decision-making, of enacting laws and of their judicial rights.
Al-Wefaq adds that the people of Bahrain are deprived, by force and brutality, of all political rights, freedom of opinion and expression, religious freedoms, freedom of association and parties, freedom of peaceful assembly, etc.
According to the opposition group, Manama’s authorities have a long history of tyranny and human rights violations, and have worked to dismantle and abolish the opposition, by dissolving it, withdrawing its licenses, and applying the Political Isolation Law, without any motives or logical reasons.
Al-Wefaq’s letter to the United Nations has also affirmed that international indicators show that Bahrain is a state implicated in corruption, especially political, financial, legislative and judicial corruption.
Several organizations, such as Transparency International, have maintained that Bahrain is one of several brutal and repressive regimes. Besides, the Economist classifies Bahrain as an authoritarian country. For its part, Freedom House has listed it among the “Not Free” countries, and among the most repressive in the Middle East.
Al-Wefaq points out that the country is witnessing an escalation in the pace of the seizure of public money, theft and looting of public lands and coasts, domination of political decision-making, and influence and control over all state institutions and decisions.
The letter to the UN also notes that, in coordination with Bahrain’s opposition factions, Al-Wefaq has proposed various sincere and realistic initiatives and projects to improve the citizens’ livehood, including: the Bahrain Declaration, the Manama Document, the “No to Violence nor to Hatred” document, and others.
Through these initiatives, Al-Wefaq has sought to create the necessary atmosphere to achieve national reconciliation and a comprehensive solution to the political crisis. However, all of them fell on deaf ears from the official side. On the contrary, the authority has directed its media and press to foster hate speech and incitement.
Al Wefaq has called on the United Nations to push the Bahrain government to implement the principles of democracy, as is the case in constitutional monarchies. It has also called for Bahrain to be a state of law and institutions, in order to reach a serious political solution, in order to improve the life of the citizen and end the crisis, which has lasted for more than a decade.
Finally, the Al-Wefaq’s letter has stressed the significance of achieving constitutional consensus in the country, through the drafting of a nodal constitution, and the urgent need to separate the executive, legislative and judicial powers, until reaching the principle of peaceful transfer of power, as the country has long been overwhelmed by an authoritarian rule.
