Human rights highlighted at INGOs forum

Manama, Oct. 12 (BNA): Assistant Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Faisal bin Jabr Al Dossari has participated in a forum titled "International non-governmental organisations (INGOs): between professionalism and politicisation," organised by the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (DERASAT). Al Dossari who participated on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, delivered a statement in which he talked about the credibility of international human rights organisations, affirming that they are voluntary and independent from governments. There are other organisations operating in other fields such as in economic development, environment, fight against poverty and peace and they are commonly called civil societies, he said. He asserted Bahrain’s respect for nongovernmental organisations and its keenness on interacting and cooperating with them within the framework of national laws and on the basis of respect for human rights and relevant global conventions to which the kingdom is always committed. Al Dossari said that Bahrain, since its independence, was able to establish a modern democratic state of institutions and order of law that guarantees the right for establishing civil, scientific, cultural and professional societies and trade unions, on the basis of national foundations and for legitimate goals and through peaceful means as per the conditions stipulated by law. "The Kingdom of Bahrain takes pride in the existing cooperation between the government organisations and the accredited nongovernmental organisations as is best manifested in the annual UPR prepared by the Kingdom of Bahrain for the Human Rights Council," he said. The Assistant Minister hailed the role of nongovernmental organisations in all fields including human rights as far as they meet the credibility criteria such as objectivity and non politicisation of human rights for hidden objectives and agendas. "These organisations, as their names indicate, are nonpolitical, so they ought to advocate human rights through respect for human rights." Some of these organisations are in the wrong direction, which affects their credibility; their reports are biased to serve petty gains and hidden agendas and the information they contain are erroneous as they are not checked with national sources for consistency and often turn to be poisonous instead of being neutral in highlighting whatever is positive. Al Dossari said that national and international human rights organisations ought to be neutral and transparent and should respect the law and steer themselves away from being selective, or adopting double standards or exploiting human rights causes to serve suspicious political goals. "They should also support national efforts to attain comprehensive and sustainable development to serve the 2015 - 2030 development goals that were adopted by the UN General Assembly in its 70th Session." The Assistant Minister touched on the funding of these organisations, saying that big question marks are raised with regard to their true goals and whether they are used to defend and protect human rights or they are used by foreign parties to ignite sedition, tear apart national unity or infiltrate nations.