Bahrain is to host a human rights conference looking at the challenges organisations and institutions face in the region and how they can balance the different issues raised by the subject.
The second “Human Rights in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)” Conference, themed “Human Rights Systems of the National, Regional and International Challenges,” will be held in the kingdom on Saturday, January 23, the Bahrain News agency reported.
Held under the patronage of the Speaker of the Council of Representatives Ahmed bin Ibrahim Al-Mulla, the conference is organised by the Arab Federation for Human Rights, in collaboration with the Maan Human Rights Society and the International Gulf Organisation for Human Rights (iaIGO).
National human rights institutions, GCC Secretariat-General, Arab League, Arb Human Rights Committee, independent human rights agencies, representatives of GCC, regional and international human rights NGOs will take part in the conference, the Representatives Council said.
The news comes after concerns were raised by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at a conference in Doha last week.
Speaking at a two-day conference aimed at promoting and protecting human rights in the Gulf region, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said, despite the initial optimism of the Arab Spring, the situation in the region has deteriorated.
“The Arab region has not seen, neither in its ancient or modern history, this level of violence, killing and displacement of innocent people as it is witnessing today. Despite the optimism that emerged with the start of the so-called Arab Spring five years ago, subsequent events have pushed the region towards more tension. Instead of promoting human rights, the violations have increased and freedom has declined,” he said at the opening session of the conference, according to a report by Reuters.
The Arab League Deputy Secretary General, Ahmed Ben Helli, said his organisation, together with UN High Commissioner, was documenting human rights violations in countries going through crisis.
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