[hr-media] Freedom of association in Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen
HREA
FIDH Press release
Tuesday 31 March 2009
The three
states have also recently started processes of legislative reform:
“We hope that those reforms will be step towards a greater respect of
the right to freedom of association, and will create an environment more
conducive for civil societies to participate effectively in democratic
transformation”, said Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH.
As shown in the study, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Yemen share common
characteristics in terms of freedom of association. The respective
governments’ policies are largely restrictive rather than liberal,
and are nationalistic rather than universal. These policies reflect a
severely controlling environment, including the prohibition of the
establishment of an association without governmental approval, the open
interference in their internal management, and conditions that may lead to
arbitrary dissolution. Therefore, the ability of associations to be formed
and function freely is seriously impaired.
Regarding the right
to establish associations, the three governments were encouraged to remove
from their legislation vague provisions allowing for discretionary
interpretation and broad restrictions undermining the right to freedom of
association; adopt a policy of “declaration” or
“notification” rather than an a priori authorization; encourage
the formation of human rights NGOs and more generally, not to restrict the
establishment of associations because of the presence of another
association with similar objectives; allow the creation of more than one
trade union per establishment and enact more liberal laws pertaining to
political parties
FIDH and AIHR also recommend the three
countries to amend their legislation to guarantee the right to freedom of
association to nationals and non-nationals residing and working in the
country without any discrimination; to ensure that the right of
organizations, federations and confederations to affiliate with
international entities is not subjected to prior administrative
authorization and to ensure that dissolution of associations strictly
depends on the Judiciary, with guarantees of a fair and due process.
FIDH and AIHR have recently been informed in Manama, where they
were handing out this report to the authorities and actors of the civil
society, that the Kingdom of Bahrain has taken steps in that direction, by
preparing a new draft Law on Associations, taking into account the above
mentioned recommendations as well as the Kingdom’s international
obligations.
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Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the training of activists and professionals; the development of educational materials and programming; and community-building through on-line technologies.
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