Its good to hear any radio piece on Bahrain and who can argue against peace and unity... You explain sectarianism well and make clear the similarities and differences between Bahrain and Northern Ireland.
However, while organisations like The Causeway Institute are doing commendable work, any real reconciliation will have to come top down. In other words, Bahrain will need something like the Good Friday Agreement to really bring about peace. The cornerstone of the GFA is of course Human Rights Act. The Agreement states that the UK must bring the European Convention of Human Rights into Northern Irish law, which is exactly what the Human Rights Act does. When the Good Friday Agreement was written, it had human rights at its very core.
It is the attitude that the Bahrain government has towards human rights that is holding back any reconciliation. While your programme focusses on civil society, I think that there can be no reconciliation and trust building without a honest conversation about human rights in Bahrain. We are 6 years beyond the uprising and Bahrain continues to be in lockdown. Just read Amnesty's latest report.
Comments for Reconciliation, a Tale of Two Seas
This piece belongs to the series "Kerning Cultures"
Produced by Hebah Fisher, Razan Alzayani, Ramzi Bashour, and Lilly Crown
Other pieces by Hebah Fisher
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1 comment
Miranda Diboll
Posted on November 29, 2017 at 06:22 AM | Permalink
Reconciliation starts from the top
Its good to hear any radio piece on Bahrain and who can argue against peace and unity... You explain sectarianism well and make clear the similarities and differences between Bahrain and Northern Ireland.
However, while organisations like The Causeway Institute are doing commendable work, any real reconciliation will have to come top down. In other words, Bahrain will need something like the Good Friday Agreement to really bring about peace. The cornerstone of the GFA is of course Human Rights Act. The Agreement states that the UK must bring the European Convention of Human Rights into Northern Irish law, which is exactly what the Human Rights Act does. When the Good Friday Agreement was written, it had human rights at its very core.
It is the attitude that the Bahrain government has towards human rights that is holding back any reconciliation. While your programme focusses on civil society, I think that there can be no reconciliation and trust building without a honest conversation about human rights in Bahrain. We are 6 years beyond the uprising and Bahrain continues to be in lockdown. Just read Amnesty's latest report.