MANAMA, 30 September 2005 — Bahrain’s current human rights record got a strong vote of confidence on Wednesday when the director of the World Organization Against Torture, Eric Sottas, commended the government’s recent efforts in this field.
Sottas’ organization criticized the country’s record on the issue during the mid and late 1990s.
Sottas, who is visiting Bahrain as part of a joint venture with the France-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) to assess the progress of human rights in Bahrain for their annual report, said that there was no systematic torture and no policy to protect torturers since reforms were initiated by Bahrain’s King Sheikh Hamad in 2001.
“As you are aware for many years my organization was probably the only one that issued the most denunciations against Bahrain as we were concerned about the human rights situation in the country,” he told a press conference at the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
“Since the 2001 reforms the situation has completely changed and it is clear that there is no systematic torture and no policy to protect torturers,” he added.
Sottas said he was still concerned about the need to adequately compensate the victims, to rehabilitate them, and give them the opportunity to bring their issue to an acceptable conclusion.
Sottas said that the delegation was given free access to government officials in addition to having the ability to meet with anyone outside the government, indicating that he viewed that as a sign of the democratic progress in Bahrain.
Sottas comments were welcomed by Bahraini officials.
