Interior Minister, Lieutenant-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, received on, in the presence of the Inspector-General Major-General Ibrahim Habib Ghaith and Chief of Public Security Major-General Tariq Al Hasan, a delegation from the European Parliament, led Inese Vaidere, currently on visit to the kingdom.
During the meeting, held in line with the Interior Ministry’s efforts to enhance interaction with regional and international organisation, the Minister hailed the European Parliament’s work in helping to achieve security and peace across the world.
The Minister briefed the delegation on human rights reforms that have been implemented within the Interior Ministry, as part of the overarching reforms of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, stressing that a professional and transparent approach must be adopted when dealing with the issues facing Bahrain today.
The Minister also spoke about integrating the BICI reforms into the overall strategy of police reform that will shift the Public Security Force away from public order policing toward a full-service model that focuses on community policing.
The Chief of Public Security gave a presentation on the intensive training measures that have been put in place and the new technologies that are being used to protect the human rights of detainees, and shed light on the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman at the Interior Ministry.
The Chief then outlined the efforts to hire 500 new police recruits from all segments of the Bahraini society and commented on the installation of CCTV cameras in all interview rooms and public spaces in police stations.
The Chief concluded by saying that although police officers face an unusual and high level of violence in their daily work, they are committed to enforcing the law in a humane, professional and transparent manner.