National Institution for Human Rights – Kingdom of Bahrain
a manner consistent with the purposes of the Convention. In addition, the United
Nations General Assembly, in its Resolution No. 57/199, adopted an optional
protocol attached to the Convention which aims to establish a regular monitoring
system through working visits carried out by international and national bodies to
places where individuals are deprived of their liberty in order to prevent torture and
other forms of ill-treatment.
6. Though the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain did not accede to the Optional
Protocol to the Convention to date, concerning institutional building, the Government
has created and determined the mandates of the Prisoners and Detainees Rights
Commission under Decree No. 61 of 2013. The Commission was established in
compliance with the Government’s commitments to the recommendations of the
report prepared by BICI and in line with its voluntary pledges before the Human
Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review. The Commission is granted the right
to monitor prisons, detention centers, juvenile and detainee care centers, and other
places where people may be detained, such as hospitals and mental hospitals, in
order to verify the detention conditions of the inmates and the treatment they receive,
and ensure that they are not subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment.
7. As part of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain treaty commitments for
submitting reports to the Committee Against Torture (CAT) arising from the
provisions of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment to follow-up the states’ implementation of its
provisions, the Government submitted its initial report to the Committee on May
18, 2004, even though the deadline for the report submission is April 1999. CAT had
recommended the Government to submit its next periodic report by April 2007.
However, the Government has not complied with this request to date and did not
provide a justification for the delay. This constitutes a breach of its commitment to
the international treaty.
8. Given the reality of the death penalty, which affects the essence of the right to life,
the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments reported, in its reply to
NIHR questions in this regard, that since 2013, only one death penalty judgment
was issued. The death penalty judgment, according to Article 40 of the DecreeLaw No. 8 of 1989 Promulgating the Court of Cassation Law is considered to be
challenged by the force of law before the Court of Cassation. It is noteworthy that
the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in stating its observations on the
Universal Periodic Review recommendations before the Human Rights Council for
adopting moratorium of the death penalty or its abolition in absolute terms, did not
support such recommendations because they are contrary to the provisions of the
Constitution and the Penal Code which provides for the death penalty, along with
appropriate safeguards to ensure fair death penalty when committing such serious
crimes.
9. Regarding the right to physical and moral integrity and the implementation
of Recommendation No. 1716 of the report of BICI of, which states as follows:
“Developing an independent and impartial accountability mechanism of
government officials who have committed acts in violation of the law, or caused,
by reason of neglect, cases of murder, torture and ill-treatment of civilians, with a
view to taking legal and disciplinary action against such persons, including those
with leadership positions, whether civilian or military, to whom the principle
of command liability applies in accordance with international standards”, the
Attorney General Resolution No. 8 of 2012 was issued for establishing a special
investigation unit which has the mandate to investigate and handle the allegations
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