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US Congress discusses report on Bahrain



By NOOR TOORANI HUMAN right violations in Bahrain were for the first time the highlight of an extra-ordinary US Congress session, it emerged yesterday.
The US Congress conducted the session on Tuesday, where it discussed a Human Rights Watch report on alleged abuses in Bahrain.
Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society general secretary Faisal Fulad yesterday demanded a committee be set up to investigate the report and its contents.
"Bahrain is a transparent country, but we demand an investigation committee assigned to look into the allegations in the report," he said.
"The new Bahrain Human Rights Organisation (BHRO) should take on the responsibility of investigating the report and tackling the issue to validate if there is physical abuse during police interrogation.
"Bahrain has earlier confirmed there was no physical abuse, but maybe there might have been mistakes, so even if there were mistakes we need to address them and prosecute those responsible," he said.
The two-hour session was organised by Tom Lantos Organisation for Human Rights at the US Congress Foreign Affairs Committee.
The session, which revolved around details of the report, was attended by BHRO member Mohammed Al Ansari, who defended the kingdom.
However, sources confirmed Mr Al Ansari didn't speak on behalf of the organisation.
Four other experts spoke at the session, including Human Rights Watch Organisation head Joe Stark, US Congress Middle East expert Kenneth Katzman and Middle East Democratic Project head Stephen Mclnerney.
Dozens of protesters took the stand outside the Bahraini Embassy in Washington during the session, where they objected to the alleged violations of human rights in the kingdom.

Bahrain government officials earlier slammed the report as lacking credibility, denying any case of abuse in the country.
© Gulf Daily News