NFHR President expresses regret over European Parliament's statement

Manama, Mar. 12 (BNA): President of the National Foundation for Human Rights (NFHR), Maria Khouri, expressed utmost regret and surprise at the statement issued by the European Parliament regarding human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain which ignored the kingdom’s great efforts to boost and protect human rights. Khouri affirmed NFHR’s categorical rejection of the statement which is incompatible with the truth and ignores the kingdom’s rich human rights record brought about since the beginning of the royal reform era and the approval of the National Action Charter (NAC) by an overwhelming majority of the Bahraini people in 2001. Khouri pointed out that the European Parliament, which has long-standing relations with the Kingdom of Bahrain, should have communicated with national bodies, which enjoy total autonomy in handling human rights issues, to obtain credible information. The President of NFHR affirmed the need for the European Parliament to rely on credible information from official parties or the independent national bodies before issuing any statement that might affect its credibility. She underlined the foundation’s readiness to fully cooperate with it, concerning human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with utter professionalism and credibility.