Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
constitutional problems facing Bahrain. This will contribute
to achieving stability and allow for the beginning of a true
process of development and democracy.
379. The opposition parties also prepared a document that was relayed to
HRH the Crown Prince in which it identified a series of questions about the
scope, content and modalities of the proposed dialogue. This document began
by noting that the GoB proposed to enter into a dialogue, but that it had not
clarified many central questions about this process. This was a cause for
concern and raised questions about the seriousness of the GoB in finding a
genuine political solution that satisfied the demands for political reform and
accorded with internationally agreed human rights. The document included
the following points and questions:
a. Who are the parties to the dialogue? What was the basis for
choosing those parties? Who has the right to issue
invitations?
b. Will all parties be invited? Why would some societies,
figures and civil society institutions be invited and others not
invited?
c. What percentage of the Bahraini people do these parties
represent? And on what basis was that percentage decided?
d. What is the agenda of the dialogue? Who decides the agenda?
To whom do the participants in the dialogue turn in case of a
dispute about the agenda and the priorities?
e. What are the terms of reference of the dialogue?
f. What is the timeline of the dialogue?
g. What will be done with the results of the dialogue? And what
are the guarantees that those results will be implemented?
h. More importantly, how are the disputes that will inevitably
emerge during the dialogue to be resolved?
i. These questions arise because the dialogue is like a maze
from which an exit is not known. So is this maze deliberately
built by the regime to dilute the popular demands or lower the
ceiling of these demands?
j. The opposition and the people have lost faith in the regime
because over many decades it made promises and then
circumvented them. It is therefore necessary for an
international party to be present to oversee the process and
guarantee the implementation of the results of the dialogue.
The United Nations or the European Union could be suitable
parties to undertake this task.
k. There is no logical reason for the regime’s rejection of the
opposition’s proposal to elect a Constituent Assembly in
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