SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY REPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000477 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PI, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2015 TAGS: PHUM KDEM KJUS BA SUBJECT: SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY REPORT DELIVERED TO GOB REF: STATE 48134 Classified By: Acting DCM Hallie Hahn for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered the 2004-2005 Supporting Human Rights and Democracy Report to MFA Assistant Undersecretary for Coordination and Follow-up Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa March 28. Sheikh Abdul Aziz pledged to review the report carefully, and noted that the MFA is thinking of establishing a new department within the ministry to work on the issues raised in certain international reports. He said the GOB wanted to become more pro-active rather than reactive in dealing with the issues contained in the reports. ¶2. (C) Recognizing that the Supporting Human Rights and Democracy Report includes the 98 countries and entities that the U.S. deems to have the most human rights abuses, he asked for advice on how Bahrain could "get off the list." Sheikh Abdul Aziz commented that in response to a recent report on Bahrain from the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the GOB was considering establishing a national institute on human rights and publishing more of its internal reports on human rights issues. ¶3. (C) The Bahrain Tribune, a pro-government newspaper, published a front page article March 29 on the Supporting Human Rights and Democracy Report entitled "Bahrain Reforms, War on Graft Win US Praise." The article cited passages from the report which noted positive actions taken by the GOB with regard to human rights in the last year, and included very little from the more negative passages. It highlighted several USG-funded initiatives in Bahrain including Civitas, the Microscholarships program, the International Visitors program, the American Bar Association program, and the Commercial Law Development Program. MONROE