Manama: The Kingdom of Bahrain has rejected Al Jazeera report about the signing of Members of the British House of Commons of a petition “condemning an abuse against detained Bahraini children.
The Ministry of Interior has issued the following statement:
“Concerning a report on the Qatari Al Jazeera channel about the signing of Members of the British House of Commons of a petition “condemning an abuse against detained Bahraini children” without revealing the names of the lawmakers or how the document looks like, the Interior Ministry will clarify the following:
First: inmates of the age group 15-18 serve their sentences at a separate reformation centre and aren’t allowed to meet inmates of other age groups. The Juvenile Care Centre serves those below the age of 14 and is under the General Directorate of Women Police’s supervision and has only eight individuals convicted in deviant behaviours cases. They are under legal proceedings, and human rights care that couldn’t be found in countries that sponsor the channel. The services are part of the children welfare provided by the Kingdom of Bahrain to ensure their good upbringing. Allegations of maltreatment against children are untrue as the goal is to protect children from breaking the law.
Second: the allegations come under the systematic incitement campaign of the channel against Bahrain and its people. It is part of attempts to harm national accomplishments that are crucial in human rights, including modern human rights organisations that Bahrain is proud of their human rights and monitoring performance.
Third: the Corrective Justice Law for Children comes to protect children from maltreatment, which raises the childhood age to 18 per the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The law also states that there is no criminal accountability on those below 15, and only preventive measures are taken for them. It also stipulates the establishment of a “Childhood Judicial Committee” tasked to look into cases of the exposure of children below 15 to risk or maltreatment. The law includes establishing a judiciary committee to replace penalties sentenced before the endorsement of the law for those who committed the crime when they were below 18. Under the law, “Child Corrective Justice Courts” shall be established to examine criminal cases related to crimes committed by children aged 15-18 at the time of the crime.
Fourth: the values and traditions of Bahraini society make human rights genuine society practices away from baseless allegations. The systematic campaigns against Bahrain would increase determination to enforce the law and take legal proceedings to reinforce security and general safety.
