MANAMA, 19 April 2005 — Not enough has been done by the Bahraini government to promote freedom and strengthen the reforms process since it began four years ago, according to the Democratic Progressive Forum (DPF).
Dr. Hassan Madan, chairman of DPF that has three members in the Bahraini Parliament, charged that some of the newly proposed laws were more restrictive than the ones currently in place, citing that the only law that was abolished was the State Security Act.
Madan, who was addressing a seminar on freedoms in political work held at Wefaq Society on Sunday night, also criticized the opposition for wasting time trying to come up with alternative proposals to the ones presented to the National Assembly by the government instead of focusing on ensuring that freedoms were not restricted.
“I think the greatest achievement for Bahrain following the launch of the reforms process has been the increase in freedoms,” he said.
“They had come about by implementation on the ground, not through legislations since the only law that has been effectively abolished is the State Security Act”.
Madan, who criticized the proposed anti-terrorism law, said that the law does not provide a clear definition of terrorism and that it was vague, which may allow the authorities to use it against now legal political activities.
“We understand the fears that stem from the terrorist attacks taking place in neighboring countries, but there is enough legislations in the criminal code to deal with the problem of terrorism,” he said. “If necessary we could adopt modifications to the criminal code but there is no need for the introduction of a new law”.
Madan is not the only one voicing concern about the anti-terrorism law, which is opposed by lawmakers and rights activists since it leaked to the media late last month.
The proposed law had received government backing, with King Hamad ibn Isa Al-Khalifa assuring National Assembly members that the law — that carries stiff sentences that range between the death penalty and ten years imprisonment — is not aimed at Bahrainis but at “foreign” terrorist organizations that might try to carry out operations in Bahrain.”
Madan called on the opposition to unify its efforts to push freedoms even further and urged the government to adopt new policies because reforms cannot come about while the old guard and the old mechanisms were still in place.
Lawyer and general secretary of the Constitutional Convention 2005 meeting, Jalielh Al-Sayed, who took part in the seminar also said that the new laws were more restrictive of freedoms than their predecessors.
She called on the government to adopt more reforms that would expand freedoms and not restrict them, indicating that the success of the reforms project undertaken by the king depended on it.
