UAE summons Swiss ambassador over anti-Bahrain remarks
The United Arab Emirates has summoned the Swiss ambassador over remarks made by Switzerland to the UN over the human rights situation in Bahrain.
On Sunday, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the ambassador that “it was better if such issues were resolved through established bilateral channels between Bahrain and Switzerland.”
It also claimed that Switzerland had failed to recognize that the Al Khalifah regime had taken steps to improve the human rights situation in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.
Last week, Switzerland’s UN ambassador Valentin Zellweger called on Manama to cooperate with the Human Rights Council, while also voicing his dismay over Bahrain’s “repression of civil society.”
“The use of torture, inadequate fair trial guarantees and excessive use of force during peaceful demonstrations, as well as reprisals against victims of human rights violations or those who cooperate with the United Nations, are of concern,” he said.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch voiced its deep concerns over the United Nations Human Rights Council’s failure to address the situation in Bahrain.
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Anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom on February 14, 2011.
On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to Bahrain to assist the Manama government in its crackdown on peaceful protesters.
Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or been arrested.
