Author(s):
Sylvie Brigot <brigot@icbl.org> .
Friday 15 April 2005
From 10 to 13 April, ICBL met with Bahraini officials and civil society members and participated in a training for journalists from the Gulf on the Mine Ban Convention organised by Protection and the Bahrain Human Rights Society.
“Bahrain must back ban on landmines” said a Gulf Daily News article published the day before the opening event of a 3 day course for journalists on the Mine Ban Treaty and International Humanitarian Law. The training was organised by the Bahraini Human Rights Society (BHRS), in collaboration with Protection and with the financial support of Canada. “The objective is to make the media in the Gulf aware of the importance of the treaty” said Mr Issa Al Ghayeb, a board member of the BHRS to the Gulf Daily News.
A total of 33 participants attended from Bahrain, Egypt, France, Gambia, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE and USA to discuss the Convention and the International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, how to organise a media campaign on landmines, the role of Civil Society in the landmine ban, including Landmine Monitor. Participants also engaged in an internet training on how to look for information on landmines and produced a mock newspaper containing different elements such as a story, an investigation paper, an analysis, an editorial and a cartoon, which all focussed on landmines.
Dr Sabeeka Al Najar, President of the BHRS,Ayman Sorour, Protection and Andrew Turner, from the Canadian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, giving his certificate to one participant, Mr Beder Al Nadobi, from Oman. Mr Al Nadobi writes for Al Mara. Photo: Basim Suroor/BHRS.
Trainees found they acquired in depth knowledge of the landmine problem. The training led them to find angles they could choose to write on this issue in their country and how they could link landmines and human rights. “The Right of Life if the first of the Human Rights” concluded Dr Sabeeka Al Najar, President of the BHRS, “this is why there are really strong links between landmines and Human Rights, and we are pleased to have organised the meeting and taken action in our country”. The event was also well covered by local media.
Beside the training, Salman Kamel Al Deen/ BHRS, Ayman Sorour and Mohammed Moneib/Protection, Mary Wareham/ HRW and Sylvie Brigot/ ICBL participated in advocacy meetings with civil society and officials. Mr Sadiq Alshehabi, Secretary General of the Bahrain Red Crescent promised his full support and willingness to collaborate. He explained the activities of the organisation and how they were linked to the international movement of the Red Cross, taking also advantage of the participation in the meeting of Mr Ahmed Gizo, Head of the Middle East Regional Office for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The ICBL delegation emphasised the importance of the involvement in the landmine ban movement of the Red Crescent and Red Cross movement since the early days and how other societies were contributing by giving information, organising events, including landmines in their discussion with the government and call on the Bahrain Red Crescent for their support and active collaboration.
The ICBL delegation was invited to attend a lunch with the President of the Red Crescent, who also is the First Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Alkhalifa. The ICBL delegation talked to the Deputy Prime Minister as well as with a delegation from Pakistan, headed by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
Mr Mohamed Ghassan Shaiko, Director for the International Organisations at the MFA told the ICBL that “there were no blockage of any kind in Bahrain to accede to the Convention, neither from the MFA nor from the MOD. We have started to study the Convention but it will take time for us to complete the process because of lack of resources at the Ministry”.
The ICBL emphasised the importance for Bahrain to accede and take an active role in promoting the Treaty in the Gulf. The delegation outlined how simple the Convention’s implementation would be for Bahrain, which has no stocks and is not mine affected, adding it would be at no cost. ICBL asked Bahrain to give an update on their position during the next standing committee meetings in Geneva next June and express their support publicly.
Full support for Bahrain’s accession to the Convention was reiterated the next day by Dr Yusuf Abdulkarim Moh’d, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We have studied the Convention and drafted a first document reviewing what would be the requirements for Bahrain to accede to the Convention. We have sent our position and documentation papers to the Ministry of Defence and other concerned ministries, and have started to receive some comments back”.
Dr Abdulkarim Moh’d also stated that the GCC countries are trying to develop a common approach on many issues, including on the landmine ban convention. He referred to the 2000 decision adopted by the GCC, after Qatar’s accession, to wait till the situation in the region have stabilised before joining the Convention. Dr Abdulkarim Moh’d agreed that given the dramatic change of the situation in the region since 2000, there might a good probability to successfully work with the GCC for the Council to take a new decision during the next meeting of Ministers of Defence, encouraging members states to join the Convention.
Bahrain has voted in favour of the UNGA resolution calling for the universalisation of the Mine Ban Treaty since 1996 and participated in the Nairobi Summit but did not make an official statement.
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