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Site Admin <webmaster2SPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERicbl.org> .
Friday 30 March 2007
An ICBL delegation conducted an advocacy visit to Bahrain and Kuwait to encourage the two Gulf countries to expedite accession to the Mine Ban Treaty ahead of the 8th Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the treaty, scheduled to take place in Jordan in November 2007.
As one of the world’s regions with the lowest rates of adherence to the Mine Ban Treaty, and host of the next MSP, the Middle East is one of the main areas of focus for the ICBL this year.
ICBL delegates meet with Sheikh Abdelaziz Mubarak Al-Khalifa, Bahrain's Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs. Photo: A. Sorour
In Bahrain, ICBL delegates Simona Beltrami and Ayman Sorour, accompanied by members of the Bahrain Human Rights Society, met with the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdulaziz Mubarak Al-Khalifa, who promised that he would raise the issue of accession with the Ministry of Defence and the Prime Minister’s Office with a view to kick-starting the process for accession. He stressed that Bahrain is a peace-loving country, keen on playing a leading role in the field of human rights, and that it has already joined other, more controversial, international conventions, so this should not encounter special opposition.
The delegation also met with high level representatives of the two houses of parliament, including the Speaker of the Shura Council and the First Vice Speaker and President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Council of Representatives. All representatives said that they could not foresee any opposition from Parliament. The meeting with the First Vice Speaker and President of Foreign Affairs Committee of the Council of Representatives was especially positive, ending with the promise that the Council would proactively contact the government to encourage submission of the accession bill. The First Vice Speaker, Mr Ghanim Fadhul Al Buainain stated that this is a cause in the interest of all humanity, and that it is important for someone to take the initiative, otherwise “everybody’s business ends up being nobody’s business”.
In Kuwait, meetings concentrated on the National Assembly to reflect the fact that a bill for accession was submitted by the government
ICBL delegates with the Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, Mr Jasim Al-Kharafi. Photo: A. Sorour.
and is now pending for approval in parliament. The delegation met with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker as well as the President of the Human Rights Committee. The delegation learned that the bill was unanimously passed by the Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee on 20 November 2006 and is now on the agenda for plenary discussion. All meetings confirmed that, as a country that has experienced first-hand the suffering caused by landmines, Kuwait is 100% in favour of accession and no objections are to be expected during the bill’s discussion in the Assembly. It is therefore reasonable to entertain the hope that Kuwait will become a State Party to the treaty ahead of the upcoming MSP.
The ICBL will be following up with both countries, including through further contact and correspondence with the dignitaries met and the organization of workshops and activities in early May, to maintain the momentum and secure that all these positive signals are turned into concrete result.