The National Commission is charged with the study and implementation of the recommendations in the report published on last Wednesday by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI).
“The first recommendation of the BICI report was indeed to establish an independent and impartial national commission consisting of personalities of high standing representing both the Government of Bahrain and opposition political parties and civil society to follow up and implement the recommendations of this Commission.”
“Bahrain has embarked on crucial steps to carry out the recommendations of the BICI Report and we will carry on with that thanks to your cooperation,” HM King Hamad told the newly appointed Commission.
The nineteen member National Commission is chaired by Ali bin Saleh Al-Saleh, who is chairman of the Upper House of Parliament, the Shura Council.
Two members of the Government in the Commission are the Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa and the Secretary General of Supreme Council for Women, Hala Mohammed Al-Ansari, who holds ministerial rank. She is one of two women in the Commission.
Other members come from both Houses of Parliament and political and civil societies, and include for instance Abdulla Ahmed Al-Dirazi of the Bahrain Human Rights Society. There are five members of the elected Lower House of Parliament and six present and former members of the appointed Upper House, the Shura Council, in the newly appointed commission.
Several political societies are represented, including the National Unity Gathering. Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society has refused to take part.
Several members of the newly appointed National Commission are lawyers. This is pertinent, as the BICI report recommended that the commission “should examine the laws and procedures that were applied in the aftermath of the events of February/March 2011 with a view to making recommendations to the legislature for appropriate amendments to existing law and the development of new legislation, in particular with respect to legislative reform.”