Excessive use of tear gas endangers women protesters Bahrain

Excessive use of tear gas endangers women protesters Bahrain
WNN Features – 01 January, 2012

(WNN) Manama, BAHRAIN: Expressing grave concern about the ongoing violence that has impacted Bahrain with forty-four casualties, the BCHR – Bahrain Center for Human Rights is asking for a stop measure in the use of excessive force on Bahraini citizens and activists, especially the excessive use of tear gas as a hazardous chemical.

“We really believe it is important for Bahrain to engage immediately and boldly in [a] strong national protection system, which is not in place yet,” said Mr. Bacre Ndiaye, Director of the Human Rights Council and Special Procedures Division at the United Nations Office in Geneva. Ndiaye following travels to Bahrain December 13-17, 2011 with a recent team UN human rights assessment visit.

The official UN team visit was enabled through cooperation and communications with the Office of King Hamad. “One of the big problems of [with] Bahrain is impunity, especially members of security forces. As long as this impunity, and a strong independent judiciary, were not in place it would be very difficult to lead a comprehensive national reconciliation process. This is also a big issue in Bahrain,” added Ndiaye.

“Although Governments are under an obligation to initiate inquiries into allegations as soon as they are brought to their attention, in some countries impartial investigations are rarely conducted. In other cases, public inquiries are compromised, with light sentences imposed on perpetrators despite the gravity of the crimes committed. In particular, trials of members of the security forces before military courts are sometimes undermined by an ill-conceived esprit de corps. There are also instances where low-ranking officials are convicted of human rights violations or crimes, while those in positions of command escape responsibility,” says a formal statement by the UN. “Often victims — and sometimes witnesses who assist in investigative efforts — are subjected to intimidation and death threats,” continues the statement. “For this reason, the United Nations has intensified efforts to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice and break the cycle of impunity.”

Linking the levels of stress with civil unrest and the excessive use of tear gas causing adverse affects on women, the BCHR – Bahrain Center for Human Rights, based in Manama, has received numerous reports of miscarriages and incomplete pregnancies in regions that have been impacted by violence. Some reports have directly linked miscarriage to the exposure of pregnant women to tear gas used by Bahrain’s police security forces. Twenty-one cases of miscarriage, or spontaneous abortion causing incomplete pregnancies, have been reported to the BCHR over an eight month period from March to November 2011. …more