UN Chief Calls on Bahrain to Abide by Int’l Human Rights Norms

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced deep concern about the conditions in Bahrain, and called on Manama officials to respect the international human rights standards.

Speaking on Thursday, Ban Ki-moon’s Spokesman Martin Nesirky said that Mr. Ban has expressed “his concern about the restrictions” declared by the Bahraini government on Tuesday.

Ban called on Bahrain to “abide fully by international human rights standards, including respect for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and association.”

“The secretary general believes these restrictions could aggravate the situation in the country and urges the government of Bahrain to lift them without delay,” Nesirky said.

Bahrain on Tuesday banned all protests and gatherings under the pretext of ensuring security.

In a statement carried by the official BNA news agency, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa said the latest ban was aimed at safeguarding “civil peace”.

Sheikh Rashid claimed that the demonstrators had threatened national security by calling “for the overthrow of the government”.

Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty’s over-40-year rule, end of discrimination, establishment of justice and a democratically-elected government as well as freedom of detained protesters.

Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar – were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13, 2011, to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.

So far, tens of people have been killed, hundreds have gone missing and thousands of others have been injured.