HM King's directives on alternative punishment hailed

Manama, Apr. 21 (BNA): National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) president Maria Khoury hailed the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to the government to bolster its capabilities in order to pave the way for effective application of alternative punishment under Bahrain's Penal Code. Khoury stressed the importance of enforcement of the provisions of Law 18/2017 regarding alternative punishment and penalties, to provide rehabilitation programmes suitable to individual circumstances of convicts to ensure their reform and reintegration into the society, in line with the directives of His Majesty the King to promote the spirit of tolerance, amity and community partnership and boosting the protection of human rights and consolidating the pillars of justice. The procedure confirms the individual and family responsibility within the community as the alternative punishment aims to ensure the safe and sound application of the principles of justice to fight crime and prevent its recurrence, NIHR president added. The move constitutes a quality shift through diversification of penalties to suit the individual circumstances of convicts and to achieve the objectives of rehabilitation and co-existences within their social ambience and to assist and help them as they are serving their community within a specified locale(s), refraining from getting in touch with certain persons or entities, electronic monitoring, attending training and rehabilitation programmes and remedying the damage resultant from their offense.