Bahrain Mirror: The president of Bahrain Center for Human Rights, the prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab said that he concluded through his meetings with the officials of the Bahraini Ministry of Interior in prison "that the government is convinced of the necessity to find a solution for this crisis," expecting that some prisoners would be released in the coming period."

In his interview with the Al-Wasat newspaper, Rajab made it clear that his talk about building a positive relation with the government is only regarding "solutions for the human rights issue", reiterating his support for the political dialogue and negotiations to reach a solution for the political crisis.

Rajab added that the rupture between the human rights institutions and government has been forced "by the authorities since 2004 (...) and now after releasing me, I see that there are signs of the beginning of a relation that we hope would be fruitful, in particular, with the Ministry of Interior, which is the institution most responsible for the issues related to human rights, prisoners, protests and arrests."

"There is only a beginning of a relationship and it has not been built yet (with the Ministry of Interior) and I wish that we can work on human rights issues (...) through this relationship, as I expect that coming days would include some meetings with the officials in the ministry. We also hope that this relationship would open the door to releasing some prisoners, improve the human rights issues in the country and lessen the sufferings of the families of detainees," Rajab added, stressing that these meetings will be of human rights nature and not linked to the political issue in any way.

Rajab did not feel that the other party is serious about building this relation, highlighting that there are no specific dates until now even with the representatives of the Ministry of Interior.

As for the expectations that he talked regarding releases in the Eid period, Rajab expressed his frustration that the releasing of detainees did not take place, indicating that "they were implications from information I received, however, I was disappointed that they did not take place. I was also disappointed with the re-arrest of Ebrahim Sharif. I should clarify that nothing is certain now and the whole matter is but conclusions, yet there is still hope."

Regarding the establishing of official human rights institutions like the Ombudsman and National Human Rights Institution by the government, Rajab said "it is a positive step, despite that most people see it as a décor to beautify the horrible reality , which is considered true too. However, we have to prove this to the international community through experience and evidence and not rupture of relations (this is a very important point) as we have to push it to be more authentic and serious in its work and show it that enhancing human rights conditions will ameliorate its image and that of the country as well."

Rajab confirmed his stand as a human rights activist with "all the people, indicating that the Salafist cases prove that we have clear stances against violence and attacks against police, however, you have to know, and that it is a very important point, that the role of human rights organizations is to monitor the violations of "the governments" and not "people", for it is the government's role to hold accountable, prosecute and imprison those who violate its measures and laws." He also stated that the acceptance of the acts of violence in Bahrain has increased and said it is a result of what he described as "a state of frustration and despair" among the people towards the authorities.

Rajab also talked about the "tens of thousands of injured and thousands of immigrants and displaced people. However, the number of arrested since February 14, 2011 has reached thousands including those who were arrested for a period ranging from a day to several years. We are talking here about a wave of immigration that might be the largest in Bahrain's history, as thousands have migrated either fearing the iron fist of security or searching for a livelihood due to the discrimination they are subjected to in particular after 2011. This includes the people of both sects who some of them immigrated to several western countries after they were desperate and lost hope that Bahrain would find a solution to its crisis. It is noteworthy that most of the immigrants were people who could have served Bahrain in normal cases."

Rajab further stated that he talked with the officials in prison about the dangers of the issue of fugitives who amoount to hundreds, stressing that it is a serious matter that may lead to violence, due to the state of "confusion" they are living.

The Arabic Issue