Dec 01, 2014
Foreign Press Association: BRIEFINGS
FPA London: Each year, the FPA organises a varied program of press conferences and background briefings on issues ranging from politics and economics to social policy and cultural events. Exclusive to FPA members only, the briefings facilitate access to key British institutions, in Government and Opposition, within Whitehall, the City and corporate sector.
Regular social evenings featuring news-making speakers are also held to help members network and socialise in a more informal environment.
The recently appointed Ombudsman for the Ministry of Interior in Bahrain told an FPA briefing that his country had to be transparent, address the issue of human rights inside prisons, and learn from past mistakes. Nawaf Al Moawda said they were taking advice from, among others, the UK’s Independent Police Complaints Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons. The main challenge they faced in Bahrain was to build public confidence; the number of complaints was rising, which he felt showed that such confidence was growing. Mr Al Moawda, who is also authorised to visit prisons “to ascertain the legality of procedures and that inmates, prisoners and detainees were not subjected to torture or inhuman or derogatory treatment”, said he had welcomed Amnesty International to Bahrain, and was now awaiting their report. A recent case of a prisoner being beaten to death had resulted in the arrest and charging of a police officer. He said his staff had now grown to a team of fifty, and he was not aware of any similar system being adopted in any other Arab country.
http://www.fpalondon.net/#!events/cw9d
