HAQ: Movement of Liberties and Democracy‐ Bahrain ﺣﻖ: ﺣﺮآﺔ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺎت واﻟﺪﻣﻮﻗﺮاﻃﻴﺔ- اﻟﺒﺤﺮﻳﻦ www.haaq.org, Email:
[email protected] HAQ submission to the OHCHR: Universal Periodic Review MOTIVATED CHANGE OF DEMOGRAPHY.. INFRINGEMENTS OF POLITICAL RIGHTS and INADEQUATE LIVING STARDARDS 19 November 2007 Movement of Liberties and Democracy in Bahrain‐ HAQ is concerned about the systematic infringements of political, economical and social rights of Bahrainis by the local Authorities. Irrespective of the provisions in the Bahraini legislature to respect and maintain these rights, the practices on the ground result in marginalization, disfranchise, poverty and deprivation of the majority of Bahrainis, as well as the fear of extermination of cultural identity of the indigenous Bahrainis. On April 25th, 2006, the Bahrain has expressed its pledge to respect and maintain human rights values to the UN when applying for membership of its Human Rights Council, became party of many conventions, acceded the ICCPR and ICCES, and interpreted such commitments in many of its legislature. However, such vows and commitments were not respected on practice, as easily exemplified by the regular reports and frequent statements produced by many UN bodies (Appendix A: List of citations for reports of UN Bodies) and renowned human rights organizations (See Appendix B: List of citations for reports by human rights organizations). In addition to the basic rights of expression, assembly and association reported in many reports mentioned in Appendix B, HAQ will shed light on three major rights which have grossly been violated, related to decent human livelihood and existence of Bahrainis. These include genuine participation in the public affairs (political rights), the right for the existence of adequate living standard and the politically motivated change of demography and its relationship with the other relevant rights.