MANAMA: Information Affairs Authority (IAA) Media Attaché Salman Al Jalahma has urged members of the foreign media to live up to their self-proclaimed commitment to fair reporting and unbiased coverage for the sake of the truth and by respect for the viewers, listeners and readers they say they are serving.
“The IAA strongly believes in an open and transparent world of communication that serves all the people and answers all the questions, beyond narrow agenda-driven motives,” Al Jalahma said.
“Thus, the IAA, as part of its own commitment to moral integrity and based on the value that trust is the core of its relationship with all members of the media, has made its channels of communication open and accessible to all media. They are all urged and encouraged, for the purpose of independent and fair reporting and in line with the high ethical standards of integrity, quality and professionalism, to triangulate claims and verify information before publishing them,” he said.
The media attaché was commenting on the “continuous endorsement by some media organisations of erroneous facts published by some Bahrain opposition societies.”
Referring to the article “Bahrain arrests 183 protesters, including 31 children in one month – opposition” published by Russia Today on January 17, Al Jalahma said that “it is important to clarify that the author(s) took the report, compiled by Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, at its face value, without verifying the data or attempting to challenge them by seeking an official statement from the Government of Bahrain (GoB).”
“Professional standards require a solid knowledge of the true situation in Bahrain in order to produce articles that present a plurality of view and that are completely impartial and independent from ideologies and political and other influences,” he said.
“In October 2013, when Al Wefaq claimed in a similar report that 406 cases of mistreatment had been committed by security personnel, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) at the Public Prosecution summoned Sayed Al-Musawi from Al Wefaq to present the alleged cases and review them with the SIU, However, he failed to provide any information,” Al Jalahma said.
The media attaché added that the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), established in 2011 to investigate the dramatic events that unfolded in the Kingdom of Bahrain earlier in the year, documented many mistakes committed by the Government and by several other parties.
“The Government pledged in 2011 pledged to reform the instructional landscape to address the grievances voiced and therefore, we believe that it is utterly unfair to reference the events of 2011 as a justification for these allegations made in 2014.
Significant security overhauls were prioritized as part of the BICI reform programme, including an extensive training for all security employees, officers and personnel, on international standards of human rights and criminal justice, the rights of persons during collection of evidence and at the time of arrest, and the rights of prisoners and detainees,” he said.
Moreover, central police database electronically logs every point of contact between the police and public, starting from the arrest to the detainee’s release, he added. “These measures would make it very difficult for the gross violations claimed in the report to occur unnoticed,” he said.
“The IAA is transparent and open to all media and it is actively engaged in meaningful communication with all members of the local and international media. It strives to be highly efficient and prompt in providing information and comments to all reporters and journalists. They simply need to contact the IAA to ensure their reports are impressively professional, outstandingly impartial and remarkably free of party influence,” Al Jalahma said.