09/07/2014 15:15 BIRD Newsletter - Issue #2: UK MP Tables EDM 213 Page 1 of 8 http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9cc11be31ec725f7cbe9a22b1&id=bc6e305b42&e=a3985a0dc3 Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy View this email in your browser Wednesday, 9th July 2014, Issue #2 BIRD Weekly Newsletter UK MP tables EDM 213 on Bahraini Justice System UK Parliament tables EDM 213 on Bahraini Justice System Subscribe Share Past Issues Translate
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Page 2 of 8http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9cc11be31ec725f7cbe9a22b1&id=bc6e305b42&e=a3985a0dc3
This week, Labour MP, Mr. Jeremy Corbyn tabled an Early Day Motion inthe UK Parliament expressing concern for the system of injustice inBahrain. The motion notes "the lack of reform in the administration ofcriminal cases in Bahrain" as well as a general failure of the government"to hold human rights offenders accountable". The EDM comes followinga recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) which highlighted thepersistent failures of Bahrain’s justice system since the recommendationsof the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) in 2011. ThisEDM is currently supported by 17 signatories.
Follow this link for the UK parliament EDM 213 officialpublication.Follow this link for more details about the EDM, Bahrain's'injustice system' and the recent report by HRW.
Page 3 of 8http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9cc11be31ec725f7cbe9a22b1&id=bc6e305b42&e=a3985a0dc3
Weekly Highlights
U.S Assistant Secretary of State TomMalinowski a Persona-non-grata in
Bahrain Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), theBahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Bahrain Institute forRights and Democracy (BIRD) condemn the Government of Bahrain’sdecision to deem unwelcome in the country Tom Malinowski, the U.S.Department of State’s Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy,Human Rights and Labor. (To read full statement by these NGOs, followthis link)
In a statement issued by the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thegovernment deemed Assistant Secretary Malinowski “unwelcome”,claiming that the high level diplomat was interfering in "internal affairs"which the government of Bahrain considered "contrary to diplomaticnorms".
In response to this action by the Bahraini MoFA, the U.S State Departmentdeclared that it was "deeply concerned" by this decision. It further
Page 4 of 8http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9cc11be31ec725f7cbe9a22b1&id=bc6e305b42&e=a3985a0dc3
expressed that "in violation of international diplomatic protocol" thegovernment of Bahrain had "insisted - without advance warning" onhaving a Foreign Ministry representative at each of Assistant SecretaryMalinowski's private meetings. With reference to Malinowski's meetingwith the Al-Wefaq opposition party, the U.S State Dep. also explained thatall of Malinowski's meeting were held with the objective of "representing abroad spectrum of Bahraini society".
Following the incident, Assistant Secretary Malinowski also commentedfrom his official twitter account, claiming that the decision to declare hima 'persona-non-grata' in Bahrain was less about him and more about"undermining dialogue". Yet, he also expressed that "those committed toreconciliation should not be deterred".