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Ireland concerned over Bahrain’s ‘considerable restrictions of fundamental freedoms’

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has expressed concern about the “considerable restrictions of fundamental freedoms” in Bahrain following the Middle Eastern nation’s parliamentary elections last month.

 

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has expressed concern about the “considerable restrictions of fundamental freedoms” in Bahrain following the Middle Eastern nation’s parliamentary elections last month.

In a letter to Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins, seen by The Irish Times, Mr Coveney acknowledged that serious concerns had been raised about the legitimacy of the vote held in November and that Human Rights Watch said the elections took place in a “repressive political environment”.

The Minister noted that in order to be effective in promoting human rights worldwide, Irish policy makers must “raise our voice in an appropriate way and at the right opportunities, so that our concerns are taken seriously and acted upon”.

The response follows a letter submitted to the Minister on November 14th on behalf of more than 75 TDs and senators expressing “grave concern over the government of Bahrain’s suppression of civil and political society” ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections which were held in late November.

 

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