Wednesday, marks the completion of a process initiated to look into the alleged grievances of citizens and residents during the extraordinary events of 15th February to 15th March this year.
The report will have details of the developments relating to the work of the Commission, which included investigations into thousands of complaints filed by Bahraini citizens and foreign nationals.
Last month, the Commission Chairperson informed His Majesty that approximately 9000 written complaints were received by the BICI from both citizens and foreign residents who claimed to be victims of human rights violations.
In addition the Commission conducted over 5000 personal interviews with individual complainants at the Commission’s offices during which allegations of human rights violations against those individuals and their families were investigated.
The Chairperson noted that the BICI maintains a relationship of constructive cooperation with a number of influential actors on the Bahraini scene.
As part of this cooperation, which the BICI deeply appreciates, a large amount of information, testimony, and complaints has been received from political societies, human rights activists, and civil society institutions. This information has assisted the BICI in identifying the nature of the human rights violations that occurred during the events of February and March 2011 and related subsequent events.
BICI expressed its appreciation for the cooperation of government agencies, which have contributed to providing considerable information of relevance to the events under investigation by the Commission.
The Chairman also requested His Majesty that all physical documents, statements and complaints submitted by Bahraini citizens and foreign residents, would be destroyed at the time of the submission of the final report to protect the confidentiality, security and privacy of all complainants and their testimonies.
An electronic copy of all these documents shall be preserved at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague for a period of ten years, after which these records will be destroyed by the PCA.
No copies or physical evidence of the record of the BICI files will be maintained thereafter.
The final report is based on extensive research and investigations that establishes, in an impartial manner, the facts related to the events that occurred during February and March 2011 and related subsequent events.