In response to the Amnesty International report issued on September 7 on the Kingdom of Bahrain in which it mentioned alleged repression of the opposition and made other allegations and false conclusions, First Secretary at the Embassy to the United Kingdom Fahad Al Bin Ali has made the following comments to clarify some of the points in the report:

First, the Amnesty International report contained a number of fallacious claims and allegations as well as unreliable information that do not reflect facts on the ground on human rights reality in the kingdom of Bahrain.

Second, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Kingdom has accorded great importance to its relations with amnesty International and opted for direct interaction with it for a long period in order to explain to it what is really going on and inform it of the latest developments. For clarification, the Embassy of the Kingdom has held continuous meetings with the officials of Amnesty International. In fact it has so far held 9 meetings with it, at the rate of one meeting a month, the last of which was on September 7, 2017.

Third, the Embassy has been keen to supply Amnesty International with replies and answer regarding the specific issues it brought up, provided it with data and documents, whether on individual cases or on human rights developments in Bahrain.

Fourth, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain has prepared and issued press releases, on a continuous basis, that contain clear information and answers to the queries of the British press, MPs, Human Rights Organizations and others, covering all the issues pertaining to human rights in Bahrain and totaling 22 statements and reports. The embassy has also made sure that its statements reach Amnesty International and other organizations to put them into the right picture and familiarize them with the latest developments and occurrences to keep positive interaction between the two sides going on.

Fifth, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain wishes to emphasize the need to keep its positive relations going on with Amnesty International and affirms its keen desire to reinforce whatever could serve them. And in this very context, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain urges Amnesty International to be keener to double check the veracity of the information it reaches and the credibility of its sources in order to make sure its statements and reports on the situation in Bahrain remain neutral.
Finally, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Kingdom affirms that it is ready to answer any enquiries that Amnesty International or any other organization may wish to put forth and to continue constructive dialogue with them to discuss all human rights issues in Bahrain.

Source: BNA