Bassiouni: Bahrain's progress limited by 'piecemeal' approach to reforms
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, International human rights lawyer Cherif Bassiouni, who headed the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in 2011, says Bahrain needs to address the core socioeconomic problems that are fueling continued unrest.
DOHA, Qatar — The Bahraini government has made substantial progress since the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) in 2011, but there’s still more work to be done.
That was the observation of Cherif Bassiouni, who headed the BICI, and told Al-Monitor during an exclusive interview at the Brookings Institution’s US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, “The government has consistently carried out the implementation of the recommendations.”
Bassiouni highlighted the points where actions by the Bahraini government deserved recognition, but said the implementation of the recommendations were being made on a “piecemeal level,” and thus are losing its “cumulative impact.”
While authorities have improved in certain aspects, such as rebuilding some Shiite mosques that were destroyed during the uprising, the implementation of other key recommendations “leaves much to be desired.”
