Al-Wefaq Comments on Gov't Committee Meeting: Citizenship Not Consolidated by Empowering Naturalized Persons

2019-02-14 - 11:08 م

Bahrain Mirror: Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society issued on Tuesday (February 5, 2019) a comment on the first meeting of the committee formed to follow up the implementation of the National Plan to promote the spirit of belonging to the nation and consolidate the values of citizenship that was approved by the cabinet.

Al-Wefaq said "security cannot be divided and the values of citizenship are achieved through partnership and the citizen's sense of justice and humanity".

In a series of tweets it published on its Twitter account, Al-Wefaq said "Security is indivisible and cannot be divided on the basis of family, sect or region or any kind of discrimination and disintegration as is the case today in Bahrain".

"It is not lawful, legal or human that more than half of the Bahrainis feel the loss of security and are constantly concerned because of the regime's decision in 2011 and because the regime deliberately made a class of citizens vulnerable at all levels. That decision is still applied to date, and it is the most dangerous decision in the history of Bahrain, and its continuation is the biggest threat to the future of this country," the society added.

Al-Wefaq pointed out that "the security and military institutions have transformed into an enemy and opponent to a main and broad part of the citizens, and an inferior and degrading treatment on all levels has been adopted only because of sectarian, regional or political affiliation."

"A large part of Bahrainis is denied employment in institutions, especially security and military ones and others, for the same reasons, and foreigners are brought instead. These institutions always act cruelly and brutally using torture, arrests or terrorization. In addition, the regime has arrested more than 15,000 citizens, conducted more than 45,000 raids on their homes, held tens of thousands of trials and committed a long list of violations since the beginning of the movement," it noted.

Al-Wefaq stressed "There is a lack of a fair and independent judiciary that seeks justice to the oppressed and rules fairly. The judiciary has turned into an institution subject to the security system, until it has become one of the most prominent means of intimidation and terror among the majority of Bahrainis, since it is biased towards the authorities instead of the citizen."

It also explained that "There are examples of the abovementioned, including acquitting murderers and torturers, not holding them accountable, covering up for them and even providing them with all means of protection and care, although they are accused of murder using an official weapon in official departments. On the other hand, citizens face very harsh trials without the minimum guarantees of justice, while the courts know that the confessions are extracted under torture."

Al-Wefaq showed through it tweets that the is "a very large segment of the population lacks job security, educational security, livelihood security, religious security and public security, which does not require any evidence. You can review the records of the unemployed at the Ministry of Labor, the records of those employed at the Civil Service Bureau and civil and military institutions, the records of obtaining expeditions and scholarships, and the records and reports of religious freedom."

"Large groups of tens of thousands of foreigners have been naturalized, inserted in society, provided with all the positions of citizens in terms of housing, education, health, employment, trade and everything else. The Bahraini identity is threatened and citizens are humiliated while the naturalized are satisfied and their circumstances and behavior are taken into account at the expense of citizens. It is even difficult to file complaints against the naturalized at police stations since they control these places," it said.

Al-Wefaq continued "The regime targets the religious and community leaders of a fundamental component of society. Although the regime is unequivocally aware of the extent of respect and moral, psychological, and ideological affiliation of the Shi'a with a leader such as Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, the regime revoked his nationality even though he is an indigenous Bahraini and his roots are hundreds and even thousands of years old. In addition, the regime tried Ayatollah Qassim over an ideological principle that is one of the fundamentals of the Ja'afari doctrine. Then, the regime killed citizens in front of his door without humanity, and imposed house arrest on him, even though he is a man of peace, and he is the basis of maintaining civil and social peace and national and Islamic unity. This is how the regime treats influential leaders in Bahrain, who have very large masses that believe in them."

It went on to say that Bahrain lacks freedom at all levels, and the culture of tyranny, oppression and suppression neither builds countries nor creates a cohesive society. It is irrational for the authorities to talk about moderation while they do not practice it, and fight and imprison those who have moderate speeches.

The society said "political partnership, openness to the other and pluralism are the fundamentals of a society in which the spirit of citizenship spreads. However, all those values are absent from Bahrain and demanding them is a crime and those who demand them are prosecuted.

Al-Wefaq concluded "Bahrain needs to build a new system based on independence of the judiciary, opening the democratic space, adopting cultural and political pluralism, eliminating sectarian discrimination, establishing a state of institutions and law, transitioning to true democracy, caring for the interests of citizens fairly and equally and providing all the requirements of a decent life."

Arabic Version