Bahrain

EDM number 305 in 1997-98, proposed by Jeremy Corbyn on 24/07/1997.

That this House notes the concern expressed in the Annual Reports of Amnesty International and of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in June 1997, at the continuing violent repression, mass arrests and alleged ill treatment of those detained, in some cases resulting in deaths in custody; recalls that the current political crisis began in 1994 with widespread demonstrations calling for a restoration of democratic and constitutional rule, the release of political prisoners, and the return of the hundreds of Bahrainis forcibly exiled because of their political activities; regrets that these moderate demands have been met with arrests, torture of detainees, and trial by a state security court whose procedures fall far short of accepted international standards for a fair trial and from which there is no right of appeal, despite the imposition of death sentences; and therefore calls on the government of Bahrain to open negotiations with opposition forces immediately with a view to holding democratic elections at the earliest opportunity, to release all political prisoners, to allow the return of exiles and to institute due process of law, according to international standards.

This motion has been signed by a total of 22 MPs.