MANAMA, 27 May 2003 — A petition signed by 33,000 Bahrainis was yesterday handed to King Hamad ibn Isa Al-Khalifa, demanding that he address past human rights abuses.
The National Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture, which organized the petition, is demanding that those who committed human rights abuses be held accountable.
The petition calls on the king to lift a 2002 amnesty from prosecution for all Ministry of Interior officials who took part in human rights violations.
It also calls for an independent committee to investigate human rights abuses and for those who participated in such crimes to be tried according to international law.
King Hamad freed political detainees and invited exiles back to Bahrain as part of a democratic process he began since coming to power after the death of his father in 1998.
