Political Societies: Consensus to Condemn Violence

On 16 August 2010, six political societies expressed their concern over the recent security developments. They affirmed that the detainees have the right to be released immediately or have a fair and un-politicised trial according to Article 20 (C) of the Constitution, which reads: ‘the accused is innocent until proven guilty in a legal trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for the exercise of the right to defence in all phases of the investigation and trial in accordance with the law’. The societies also rejected all acts of violence, arson and vandalism of public and private properties. However, at the same time; they rejected the excessive use of force by the security forces.

These political societies include: the National Democratic Action Society, Waad, the Islamic Action, Amal, the National Brotherhood Society, Al-Wefaq and the National Democratic Assembly.

Al-Wefaq and the National Democratic Assembly also rejected the sectarianisation of political and human rights issues as this can push the country to more political and security tension and threaten the civil peace and the security of the society. The societies also stressed in the statement their belief in civilised political dialogue between all political and social parties including official bodies. This is because dialogue is a meeting point and that understanding the requirements of the various parties can help diffuse any political or security tension.

The National Islamic Forum stressed the necessity of implementing the law without any hesitation. It also pointed to the fact that Bahrain enjoys a wide and unprecedented margin of freedom and is ahead of many counties in the region. Each citizen is able to express his opinion openly through the press or through their MPs in the House of Representatives. Therefore, there is no justification for breaching the law and using violence.