In the last week, Bahrain’s treatment of its citizens and their right to free expression has been repeatedly in the news. Sara Yasin reports on a spate of developments that raise questions about the Bahraini government’s commitment to free speech.
Blogger and activist Ali Abdulemam has been granted asylum in the United Kingdom. Abdulemam’s two years in hiding began shortly after the start of Bahrain’s political unrest in February 2011. He was sentenced in absentia to fifteen years in prison on charges of attempting to overthrow the monarchy.
Abdulemam is the prominent founder of Bahrain Online, a site that created an online space to criticise and discuss the country’s regime in 1998. Initially, he wrote anonymously, but he began to write in his own name in 2001. Public dissent in Bahrain comes at a price: the blogger was first arrested in 2005 and then once more in 2010.
News of Abdulemam’s heroic escape did not amuse Bahrain’s government:
Ali Abdulemam was not tried in court for exercising his right to express his opinions. Rather, he was tried for inciting and encouraging continuous violent attacks against police officers. Abdulemam is the founder of Bahrain Online, a website that has repeatedly been used to incite hatred, including through the spreading of false and inflammatory rumors.
The statement goes on to say that the country “respects the right of its citizens to express their opinion”, but makes a distinction between expressing an opinion and “engaging in and encouraging violence.”
Back in 2010, Abdulemam was jailed, tortured, and accused of being a part of a “terrorist network.” The real threat he posed to the state, as fellow activist Ala’a Shehabi put it last year, was that “his forum offered dissidents a voice.”
So what does “incitement” look like in Bahrain? For documenting a protest on Twitter last December, Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) member Said Yousif, was jailed and charged with “spreading false news.” According to the country’s laws, “the dissemination of the false news must amount to incitement to violence.” As Human Rights Watch’s Middle East director, Sarah Lea Witson put it:
If Bahraini officials believe that an activist is inciting violence by tweeting a picture of an injured demonstrator, then it’s clear that all the human rights sessions they’ve attended have been wasted.
The jailed head of the organisation, Nabeel Rajab, is currently serving a two year sentence for organising “illegal protests.” BCHR released a statement today expressing concerns that Rajab has been transferred to solitary confinement. He has been unreachable since relaying to his wife an account of young political prisoners being tortured earlier this week. Rajab was requesting a visit from the International Committee of the Red Cross, to document the case.
Still, Bahrain insists that freedom of expression is something that it upholds — in fact, it has gone so far as prosecuting individuals for supposedly abusing it. Just yesterday, year-long sentences were handed to six Twitter users for making posts insulting Bahrain’s King Hamad. For hanging a Bahraini flag from his truck during protests in 2011, a man was handed a three-month jail sentence today.
Looks like it might be time for Bahrain to reevaluate how it understands freedom of expression.
AUSTRALIA
ASIC request sparks internet censorship
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s use of internet censorship powers caused the accidental blocking of more than 1000 websites in April.(The Australian)
AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijan extends libel law to web speech
Index on Censorship and partner organizations have strongly condemned moves by Azerbaijan’s government on Tuesday to criminalise online slander and abuse in the run-up to the country’s October Presidential election. (Index on Censorship)
BAHRAIN
Bahrain blogger given asylum in UK
A Bahraini blogger and human rights activist said he had been granted asylum in Britain after being in hiding for two years. (Gulf News)
Bahrain court jails six for insulting king on Twitter
A Bahraini court jailed six people for a year on Wednesday for insulting King Hamad bin Issa al Khalifa in messages on the microblogging site Twitter, the official news agency said. (Reuters)
BRUNEI
Brunei: ‘Slow Internet is Almost Like Censorship’
Brunei internet users are complaining against the slow and unreliable internet connection in their country. (Global Voices)
CANADA
U.S. man’s “supportive” web chat with suicidal Canadian teen “free speech”: lawyer
An American man convicted in 2011 of posing as a young, depressed woman in an online “suicide chat room” and helping a Canadian teenager kill herself in 2008 has appealed the verdict to Minnesota’s top court, arguing this week that the free-speech provisions of the U.S. First Amendment should have protected his “supportive” conversations with the distraught Carleton University student. (Canada.com)
CHINA
As China’s social media takes off, Beijing’s censorship campaign heats up
A few well-regarded intellectuals known to be critical of the Communist Party have drawn millions of followers on China’s Twitter. (Christian Science Monitor)
Blog of Critic of Chinese Censorship Deleted
It will hardly come as a surprise to anyone to learn that a popular writer and well-known critic of China’s pervasive censorship system has run into trouble for his views. (Reason)
EGYPT
Bassem Youssef’s fight for free speech wins cheers at AMF
Egypt’s Bassem Youssef, the TV host called to court for poking fun at President Mursi, was applauded at this week’s Arab Media Forum (AMF) after making a rousing argument for free speech. (AlArabiya)
Egyptian artists declare war on sexual harassment
Since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak two years ago, artists have been active in breaking Egypt’s age-old taboos around sexual violence, especially since sexual harassment has been on the rise. In the period after the revolution, artists — including women — have covered the country’s walls with murals and slogans, using them to amplify calls for change. Melody Patry reports. (Index on Censorship)
IRELAND
Irish mobile phone shutdown may be allowed during G8
The Irish government will allow the mobile phone network to be shut down in border areas during the G8 summit. (BBC)
KUWAIT
Kuwait: Draft Law Threatens Free Speech, Says HRW
Kuwaiti authorities should amend a proposed new press law that would increase state control of the news media and further curtail the right to free speech. The draft should be revised to protect free speech, consistent with requirements under international law, not curtail it, Human Rights Watch said. (Eurasia Review)
LIBYA
Young Libyans Find Escape in ‘Secret’ Cinema
In the basement of a villa in central Tripoli, young Libyans seeking an escape from violence and disorder watch an American movie classic screened using a simple projector and laptop. (Reuters via Voice of America)
RUSSIA
Russian bird lovers targeted as ‘foreign agents’
An organisation behind a nature reserve dedicated to the protection of Russia’s cranes has been ordered to register as “a foreign agent” under the country’s non-governmental organisation law. The case highlights how arbitrary implementation is chilling free expression in the country, Andrei Aliaksandrau reports. (Index on Censorship)
UNITED KINGDOM
Letter: Free speech, extremism and a university’s duty
Institutions have a legal obligation to promote free speech, and that may involve allowing controversial, indeed sometimes offensive, opinions to be expressed. (The Times)
UNITED STATES
The DOJ’s Freedom of Speech Breach
The seizure of AP’s phone records is legal, but that doesn’t make it an acceptable course of action for the Justice Department to take. (The American Prospect)
Lawmakers accuse Obama administration of abusing free speech rights
U.S. lawmakers accused the Obama administration on Wednesday of trampling on free speech rights and evading questions about the Justice Department’s secret seizure of Associated Press telephone records. (Reuters via The Chicago Tribune)
IRS targeting not only chills speech, it attacks 1st Amendment freedoms
The news that an office of the Internal Revenue Service targeted for review a number of groups with names that included “patriot” or “tea party” is chilling enough to hear – but there’s more reason to be concerned from a First Amendment perspective. (TriCities.com)
Journalists, human rights activists and government representatives are gathered this week in San José, Costa Rica for the 20th annual World Press Freedom Day.
Every 3 May, UNESCO hosts a series of panels, workshops and ceremonies to evaluate global press freedom and to honour journalists who have been attacked, imprisoned or died for their work. This year’s theme is on promoting safety and ending impunity for journalists, bloggers, media workers and everyday citizens who cross red lines to speak their minds.
Most of the first day’s sessions provided analysis of the dangers journalists face. More than 600 journalists have been killed in the line of duty over the past decade, and in only 10 per cent of cases have those responsible for their deaths been punished.
In societies where journalists feel unsafe or where attacks against them go unpunished, a culture of self censorship often emerges. Javier Darío Restrepo, a journalist and writer from Colombia, said journalists self censor to survive, but in doing so they cease to be a voice of the powerless in their societies. Building on that point, OSCE’s representative on freedom of the media Dunja Mijatović described the right of journalists to carry out their work without fear — an important prerequisite for media freedom in society.
One common reference on day one of the conference was the recently published UN Plan of Action on Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. The plan calls on UN agencies, member states, NGOs and media organisations to work together in promoting the safety of journalists and raising awareness of the primary threats they face. On a panel, speakers from Nepal, Pakistan, Colombia and Mexico discussed obstacles and opportunities for implementing the plan in their countries.
Adnan Rehmat, executive director at Intermedia Pakistan, said the main issues facing press freedom in his country are that attacks on journalists are not recognised as attacks on freedom of expression. One positive development he mentioned was the establishment of a Pakistan Journalist Safety Fund to provide assistance for journalists in distress.
In the same discussion, Andrés Morales, executive director of La Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa in Colombia, cited a recent attack on noted Colombian investigative journalist Ricardo Calderon as indicative of the wider problems facing journalists in the region and around the world. Colombia has seen a marked decline in the number of journalists murdered in the past decade, which he attributes in part to a protection programme for journalists but also to self censorship. Many journalists believe that if they don’t write about sensitive issues, they won’t be punished for their words.
In a panel devoted specifically to freedom of expression in Costa Rica, local journalist Mauricio Herrera Ullola outlined some of the greatest obstacles media professionals face in his country today. By some measures, Costa Rica’s press can be considered free.
But “crimes against honour” are still prosecuted criminally and carry a penalty of up to 100 days in prison if someone feels personally insulted by a journalist’s story. Herrera Ullola said that media ownership is very concentrated, self-censorship is common, and current laws around slander and libel can be chilling in Costa Rica. He also said the country needs freedom of information laws to promote greater transparency and access to public records.
Several speakers described great improvements for the rights of women, indigenous populations, youth and sexual minorities across Latin America in recent decades, but agreed that many countries in the region still have work to do to ensure full freedom of expression. Colombia and Mexico are both on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ top 10 list of deadliest countries for journalists, a clear sign that freedom of expression remains under attack in the region.
In a poignant moment during the conference’s first day, one delegate asked whether journalists dying on the job is an occupational hazard; an unavoidable price society must pay for good journalism and ultimately for the truth. Adnan Rehmat from Intermedia Pakistan responded: “The price of journalism should not be more than feeling tired after a long day’s work.”
Brian Pellot is Index on Censorship’s Digital Policy Adviser. UNESCO’s three days of events for World Press Freedom Day in Costa Rica complement dozens of local and regional events around the world. Follow Brian on Twitter @brianpellot (along with the hashtags #wpfd and #pressfreedom) as he reports on the rest of the conference, and read the full programme of events in Costa Rica here.
Russian opposition supporters gathered on 6 May to protest against Vladimir Putin and demanded the release of political prisoners. Photo: Elena Ignatyeva / Demotix
An organisation behind a nature reserve dedicated to the protection of Russia’s cranes has been ordered to register as “a foreign agent” under the country’s non-governmental organisation law. The case highlights how arbitrary implementation is chilling free expression in the country, Andrei Aliaksandrau reports.
