(MENAFN – Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Bahraini Council of Representatives Speaker Ahmad bin Ibrahim Al-Mulla emphasized that the GCC countries have cut a long path in human rights field at international, regional and local levels due to their interest in this file.

In a statement to KUNA following the opening of General Conference for Human Rights in the GCC countries Monday evening, Al-Mulla said that the GCC member states were keen on paying attention to the file of human rights which strengthens both Arab and Islamic approaches of human rights.

He said that the GCC countries joined several international conventions related to human rights and stressed their continuous commitment to these conventions, noting that they also established several institutions interested in human rights.

“The issue of human rights topped the agenda of the Council of Representatives in Bahrain through the use of both legislative and regulatory tools to contribute to developing the file of human rights “, he said, noting that a parliamentary human rights committee will be announced on Tuesday in Bahrain.

For his part, the president of the International Gulf Organization for Human Rights (IGO) Mansoor Lootah stressed that the GCC member states deal with the file of human rights transparently, saying that international and non-governmental organizations as well as some foreign ministries of big states are interested in issues related to human rights.

But all these organizations do not deal with issues of human rights neutrally as they try to implement standards dominant in the Western countries on the Gulf countries, he added.

He called for establishing a higher commission of human rights in the GCC countries aiming at designing unified strategies, coordinating policies and enhancing human rights office in these countries.

For her part, Mona Hajras, Bahraini Society Ma’an’s chairperson, appreciated in her speech the establishment of Arab Court of Human Rights, stressing the necessity of forming an effective partnership among the GCC counties to be a base of comprehensive strategy to help them deal with issues of human rights.

The IGO is holding the conference at the Gulf Hotel in cooperation with Bahraini Society “Ma’an” for Human Rights.