GOVERNMENT salaries for rights activists, criminalising torture and discrimination, new laws to protect the environment and providing state funding for rights groups were just some of the recommendations to come out of the BHRS report released yesterday.
It also calls for equality between all citizens regardless of their gender, culture and origin, as well as enhanced dialogue between all cultures and ethnicities.
The society also called for social and cultural freedom guaranteed by clearly stated laws, while saying it wanted to expand the freedom of civil societies through amendments to the societies law.
The society also recommended a law that would make it mandatory for organisations working to improve the rights of women and children to receive financial aid.
The report said a new law was needed that would allow rights activists to carry out their duties full-time, while the state ensures they continue receiving their monthly salaries.
It added that constitutional amendments were needed to enable real public participation in the decision-making process through the election of MPs, based on equal opportunities and fair distribution of constituencies.
Among other recommendations, the society called for greater freedom, independence and transparency of the media. Another recommendation was that Bahraini women should be able to pass on their nationality to their children and have the same rights as men.
They should also be entitled to Housing Ministry services, it says.
The BHRS now wants to speed up the enacting of a Family Law, which would be in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The society also recommended amendments to the Labour Law to bring it in line with International Labour Organisation rules, thus protecting expatriate labourers and their families.
It said the country must also issue laws that protect expatriate workers - especially housemaids who are not currently included in the Labour Law.
The society called for more efforts and new legislation to combat human trafficking, more freedom for trade unions and the right for government employees to form their own unions.
