Manama: The secretary-general of the oldest human rights society in Bahrain has resigned following a row with society members over a press statement.
Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) said that Abdullah Al Durazi has resigned after he realised he made a mistake by making a statement in which he said that some of the officers named and shamed as torturers in a report by Human Rights Watch were in fact innocent.
The report released on Monday in Manama quoted former detainees who said that they had been subjected to instances of physical and mental torture during their interrogations and gave names of some of the torturers. The New York-based watchdog mentioned the names in its report.
However, Al Durazi who was flanked by Joe Stork, HRW deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa and Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, a senior attorney at Dorsey and Whitney LLP, at the launch and accompanied Stork during meetings, told the local media on Tuesday that some of the security people who were named in the report were not involved in acts of torture.
His statement has irked those who fully supported the report and at an impromptu meeting on Wednesday evening, BHRS members said that Al Durazi had given a personal view that did not reflect the society views and blamed him for not consulting with the society before sending his statement to the media.
The members said that they had full faith in the HRW report and that they had no reservation whatsoever about it.
On Thursday some of the society members staged a brief demonstration in front of the BHRS office in Manama, ostensibly to show public displeasure with Al Durazi’s statement.
"The society welcomes the bold stance of the secretary general for admitting his mistake and presenting his resignation. The society deeply values his efforts during his tenure," BHRS said in a statement released on Thursday evening. "We are proud of the our special relationship with Human Rights Watch and appreciate the role of Joe Stork, HRW deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa to enhance human rights."
On Tuesday evening, Bahrain's foreign ministry said that his country would look into the charges.
"The Government will now be examining the allegations raised within the report and its findings to ensure that Bahrain continues to meet international best practice in support of human rights," Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa said. "If, during the course of this examination, it can be established that any events have occurred that are not in accordance with the law and international conventions, then these matters will be passed to the appropriate authorities to allow necessary action to be taken."
Bahrain unequivocally condemns the mistreatment of any individual in custody and will not tolerate the slightest deviation from this position, Shaikh Khalid said.
BHRS was set up in 2002 and was initially chaired by Dr Sabika Al Najjar as president and Salman Kamaluddin as vice president, two former political prisoners and exiles who returned to Bahrain in 2001.
The Society produces an annual report on human rights in the Kingdom, liaises with international organisations and carries out human rights activism in the Kingdom. It has worked with international human rights organisations. It was tasked with supervising the parliamentary and municipal elections in 2002 and 2006 and helped organise the parallel conference of Arab NGOs during the G8 Summit on Middle East reform, the Forum for the Future 2005, held in Bahrain in November 2005.
In December 2005, BHRS became the first NGO in the Arab world to carry out a prison inspection when it visited Jaw prison. The party visiting Jaw included activists, doctors, and psychiatric nurses with the purpose at examining the facilities, the treatment of prisoners and looking for any signs of abuse.
