GENEVA — The United Arab Emirates (UAE) summoned the Swiss ambassador on Sunday to denounce a statement Switzerland made to the United Nations Human Rights Council the week prior criticizing fellow Gulf state Bahrain’s human rights record.
The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Swiss ambassador “it was better if such issues were resolved through established bilateral channels between Bahrain and Switzerland,” according to a statement posted on state news agency WAM.
The Foreign Ministry also said that Switzerland failed to acknowledge the steps Bahrain had taken to improve its human rights record, it said.
Switzerland’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Valentin Zellweger last week called on Bahrain to cooperate with the Human Rights Council’s procedures.
Bahrain’s parliament on Wednesday invited the UN human rights chief to visit and promised him unrestricted access to prisons and Shiite villages, following his criticism of the kingdom’s human rights record.
