‘Call for Democracy’ assembly launched in Bahrain

Signatories of this Call stress the importance of democratic transition in accordance with the principle of “the people are the source of all powers” to build a democratic political system in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

National Bahraini figures launched the “Call of Democracy” assembly on Saturday 13thSeptember 2014. The event sheds light on the political and economic life that has significantly fallen back since the eruption of a nationwide movement for a peaceful democratic transition in Bahrain.

The Call of Democracy, introduced in the Bahraini capital of Manama, embodies a responsible patriotic necessity every person concerned with our country’s urgent need for change and real reform to build a State of real democracy and as promised in the National Action Charter [launched by King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa].

“Bahrain’s Call for Democracy”:
We, the undersigned on the “Bahrain’s Call for Democracy” from the various professions and trade unions and political, social, cultural and economic backgrounds and the civil society institutions in Bahrain, and from our national responsibility and belief of the critical necessity for a social contract that provides justice and equality in rights and duties for all citizens without sectarian or ethnic discrimination and based on principles that protect the national unity and social fabric and civil peace, hope that this message would reach all who believe in and encourage democracy and respect of peoples’ fundamental right to form their executive, legislative and judicial authorities and enjoy the individual and general freedoms stated in international covenants.

We stress that there are a number of prerequisites for an honest and urgent need to build real democracy, including the following:

Fist: to execute a comprehensive project of political, social and economic reforms based on clear objectives for a transition to a democratic system in the state-administration and respect of general and individual freedoms and human rights, and to implement the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI).

Second: to build a social contract that stands on right democratic bases and considers the highest levels of maintaining political, social and intellectual essentials of citizenship. Such a social contract should be an inclusive and national reference with the power to organize laws and institutions.

Third: to end all manifestations and consequences of the security status that followed the popular democratic movement, starting with those prosecuted and jailed in relation to the crackdown on political demands and ending with all the practices that violated human rights, and to give back nationalities of citizens who lost citizenship under arbitrary revocation decisions, and to end the political naturalization project and address the problem it has caused.

Fourth: to neutralize State and quasi-State media, and to end the incitement and hate that harms national unity and coexistence, to start adopting a language of reconciliation to establish grounds for democratic transition, and to allow freedom of expression and free media that maintains the social fabric.

Fifth: to allow civil society institutions their right to independency and election of administration in a free and democratic manner to represent a real fifth power in the society.

Sixth: to end all political prosecutions and security pursuits, and to lift travel bans set on citizens for expressing their opinion, and to cancel the ‘black-lists’ distributed to a number of foreign airports so that Bahraini citizens enjoy freedom of movement.

Seventh: to release all political prisoners without exception and reinstate them to their jobs and education seats, and to redress and rehabilitate them so they can actively contribute to the process of change and sustainable development, and to hold human rights violators to account.

Eighth: to enable political societies and movements as well as labor unions and civil society institutions to exercise right to associations and activism and to play their natural role of advocating democratic transition and society-building without restrictions.

Ninth: to work to achieve the independency and neutrality of the activities of the State-institutions and apparatuses.

Tenth: to encourage and sanction all official and non-official efforts that serve national unity and coexistence and to organize activities that contribute to strengthening social life between the various factions of Bahraini society.

Eleventh: to support and adopt a national dialogue with fair representation of all and national responsibility to defend rights of citizens and the country, and to push for dialogue or negotiations between the regime and the opposition to reach practical steps towards real democracy.

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