There is a spanner in the works which will stop Bahrain from ever achieving a clean human rights record, unless it is dealt with.
I am talking about the bodies of law enforcement, the police, the public prosecution and the courts - all of which ignore two fundamental human rights.
One is the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty and the other is the right to liberty, two inalienable rights denied in this country on a daily basis.
A case in point is the repeatedly delayed trial of 43 people in connection to an alleged prostitution racket at a hotel which was raided and closed in October.
Among those arrested in the raid were hotel staff, some of who were in jobs in which it is highly unlikely that they would be aware of, let alone involved in, the alleged sex racket.
So unless the law now says that if you work in a hotel and the police find prostitutes there, then you too are guilty, at least some of the 43 should have been let go or at the very least granted bail.
But that would require the police and public prosecutors taking time to look at each case individually and in cases such as this, it does not seem to happen.
Instead, they are all charged, chucked in jail and left there until the court sorts it all out, one way or another.
What is needed in this country is a writ of habeas corpus, under which the police or prosecution can be ordered to produce any detained individual in court, so a judge can assess if there are legal grounds for that person to be held.
A writ of habeas corpus may be filed by any prisoner, or rather by his or her legal representative.
This would put the onus on investigators to gather far more evidence before they arrest someone and it would also make bail a far more likely outcome of the initial court hearing.
The system as it is works like trawl fishing - throw out a big enough net, haul in enough suspects and maybe the guilty will be in the catch too.
As a result innocent people may spend months in custody, robbing them of their jobs and credibility in the community. lhorton@gdn.com.bh
Source:gulf-daily-news.com/
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