17 May 17 | Bahrain, Bahrain News, Middle East and North Africa, News and features
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Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab (Photo: The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy)
On Tuesday the detention of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was extended once again when Bahraini courts denied his request for bail and postponed the first of his two trials until 30 May.
Rajab, whose second trial was scheduled for today, was unable to appear in court due to deteriorating health, resulting in him being taken to a hospital.
After being arrested on 13 June 2016 on charges of spreading “rumours and false news” and tweeting about the war in Yemen, Rajab’s two trials have been postponed over ten times in total. He has now spent nearly a year straight in detention, most of which has been in solitary confinement, contributing to a string of serious medical issues including bleeding ulcers.
The treatment of Rajab, who could face up to 18 years in prison if he is convicted in both cases, has been criticised by human rights activists over the last year. On 12 May 2017, the United Nations Torture Committee released a statement strongly criticising Bahrain’s history of torture as well as urging them to “put an end to the solitary confinement of Mr. Nabeel Rajab and ensure that he is provided with adequate medical assistance and redress”.
It continued: “The Committee is deeply concerned by reports that numerous persons who were deprived of their liberty have been subjected to torture or ill-treatment. It is particularly concerned about the situation of Messrs. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Naji Fateel, Nabeel Rajab, Abduljalil Al-Singace, Hussain Jawad, Abdulwahab Hussain, in particular with regard to their access to medical care.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1495019195784-ddbc73bc-d6fb-3″ taxonomies=”716″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
12 May 17 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Press Releases
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The Royal Windsor Horse Show should sever ties with the Kingdom of Bahrain, say five rights groups today in letters to Buckingham Palace, event organisers HPower Group and principal partner Land Rover. King Hamad, who local Bahraini media report to have departed from Bahrain, is expected to arrive in the UK today.
The human rights groups state: “The Royal Windsor Horse Show and the monarchy risk reputational damage by maintaining close relations with the Kingdom of Bahrain and its head of state, and the continued association only serves to undermine the work of human rights organisations such as ours who are seeking a peaceful and reformative cessation of human rights abuses in Bahrain.”
The Royal Windsor Horse Show, which hosted a live-broadcast celebration for the Queen’s 90th birthday last year, has regularly hosted the King of Bahrain and his son Prince Nasser for the past several years. The King was spotted in the royal box, sat next to the Queen, during her birthday celebrations, and Bahrain sponsors at least four events at the annual horse show, including an endurance race and the Kingdom of Bahrain Stakes for the King’s Cup.
King Hamad’s high profile presence at the Queen’s birthday sparked controversy. The Times reported “fury” over the King’s seat, and was subjected to a legal complaint based on its reporting. The Independent and Daily Mail also reported on the King’s attendance. Buckingham Palace told the Independent that the King was there “at their behest”, while horse show organisers HPower said “he was there because he supports the horse show.”
The Horse Show has also sparked controversy for the attendance of King Hamad’s son, Prince Nasser, with one outlet last year reporting“Bahraini prince accused of torture expected to attend Royal Windsor Horse Show.” The prince, whose diplomatic immunity to the United Kingdom was quashed in 2014 over torture allegations, is a regular attendee and participant in the races.
The letter, signed by NGOs including the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Reprieve and Index on Censorship, calls for the horse show to sever its ties with Bahrain until stronger ethical commitments are in place. The campaigners point to the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain, where the King signed death warrants for the execution of torture victims in January, and where civilians are currently being tried by military courts following fresh constitutional amendments. There are currently thirteen individuals on death row in Bahrain, six of them sentenced in March 2017. Two men, Mohammad Ramadan and Husain Moosa, allege torture and unfair trial, and have exhausted all legal appeals. They risk imminent execution.
Commenting, Director of Reprieve Maya Foa said: “Make no mistake – visits like this gift the Bahraini government a royal cloak of acceptability, while the Kingdom mercilessly executes political prisoners and uses torture to extract ‘confessions’. Theresa May wants stronger UK-Gulf relations, but we must not help the Bahrainis to whitewash their appalling abuses. Instead of drafting in the Queen to cosy up to King Hamad, the UK must urgently protest Bahrain’s use of torture and executions to silence opponents.”
To Land Rover, whose partnership with the horse show will soon be up for renewal, the rights groups ask that they do “not renew its partnership with the Royal Windsor Horse Show unless human rights commitments are adopted, including the exclusion of states engaged in human rights abuses from sponsoring the event and the prohibition of athletes with allegations of torture from participating in the event, and the severing of current ties with the Kingdom of Bahrain.”
Sayed Alwadaei, who protested King Hamad’s attendance of the horse show in 2013, was stripped of his citizenship two years later. Since March 2017, his mother-in-law and brother-in-law have been arrested, tortured and unfairly tried. Their prosecution appears to be solely to punish Sayed Alwadaei for his protests and human rights campaigning. Human Rights Watch described it as a “cowardly attempt to break the resolve of an activist by attacking his family.”
In 2015, Sayed penned an open letter to the Queen asking that she does not meet with Bahrain’s King, writing, “I strongly believe that my citizenship was stripped on account of my legitimate and peaceful protest at the horse show two years ago.” But the close relationship between the monarchies continued: during the 2016 Royal Windsor Horse Show, King Hamad was seated by the Queen’s side during her 90th birthday celebrations at the event.
Bahrain directly sponsors four events in the event schedule. Friday 12 May sees the Royal Windsor Endurance supported by the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Manama Two Phase jumping competition and the Bahrain Pearl Stakes race. Prince Nasser and his brother Prince Khalid have both participated in the Endurance race in previous years. On Saturday, the Kingdom of Bahrain Stakes for the King’s Cup will be held. The winner of the race is awarded the cup jointly by King Hamad and Queen Elizabeth.
Further Info: Royal Windsor Horse Show: Bahrain Sponsored Events
Royal Windsor Endurance (CEI2*) supported by The Kingdom of Bahrain
Friday 12 May, 07.00
Manama Two Phase (CSI5*)
12 May 2017, 12:20
Bahrain Pearl Stakes (CSI5* )
Friday 12 May, 15.25
Kingdom of Bahrain Stakes for The King’s Cup (CS15*)
Saturday 13 May, 13.45[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1494521931684-2d010369-a057-6″ taxonomies=”716″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
20 Apr 17 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, Middle East and North Africa, Statements
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To: Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
King of Bahrain
CC: Hon. Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein
High Commissioner for Human Rights
Ms. Frederica Mogherini
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Mr. Sigmar Gabriel
Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany
Mr. Rex W. Tillerson
United States Secretary of State
The Right Honorable Boris Johnson
Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom
Mr. Jean-Marc Ayrault
Minister of Foreign Affairs of France
King Hamad,
We, the undersigned, express our deep concern with the government of Bahrain’s continued targeting of journalists, which further restricts free press and expression in the country. On 23 April 2017, the court of appeals will hold another hearing for Sayed Ahmed Salman al-Mousawi, an internationally-renowned photographer, after he was arrested more than three years ago for alleged terrorist activities. The government’s repeated harassment of al-Mousawi and other journalists highlight the ongoing censorship and restrictions on free press and expression in Bahrain.
Sayed Ahmed Salman al-Mousawi is a 29-year-old freelance photographer who has won 169 international photography prizes—a number of which he even won while in detention. He is a member of FIAP, PSA, UPI and Qatif photos.
Authorities arrested al-Mousawi, along with his brother Sayed Mohammed, on 10 February 2014 from their home in Duraz. The plain-clothes masked policemen did not present any arrest warrant and confiscated his cameras and electronic devices. After holding al-Mousawi for six days, officials transferred him to Dry Dock prison. Security forces then took him to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) for another six days where they tortured him “cruelly without mercy,” as he later told his father. Security officers hung him on a door four times, electrocuted him, and did not allow him to sit for four days. They stripped him naked, beat him and sexually assaulted him. No independent investigation into his torture allegations has ever been conducted.
Al-Mousawi spent over nine months in detention without official charges against him. At his first trial on 24 December 2014, the prosecutor charged him with forming and participating in a terror cell, accusing him of providing SIM cards to protesters —“terrorists”—and taking photos of anti-government demonstrations. He and other witnesses denied that he had anything to do with the riots. Over the course of 2015, officials postponed his trial six times. Meanwhile, the government continued to deny him his basic human rights, including restricting access to a lawyer, placing him in solitary confinement, and denying family visits.
On 23 November 2015, the Bahraini court sentenced al-Mousawi to 10 years imprisonment and revoked his citizenship. However, the Court of Cassation overturned the ruling earlier this year. His postponed appeal hearing next month provides an opportunity to end his prolonged arbitrary detention and mistreatment. Al-Mousawi has now been held arbitrarily for over three years, merely for exercising his right to free expression.
Al-Mousawi’s case is representative of the Bahraini government’s growing repression against basic civil rights. We, the undersigned, have raised our concern over numerous cases of torture, arbitrary detention, unfair trials, and trumped up terrorism charges used to restrict expression unfavourable to the government. Journalists, bloggers, online activists and human rights defenders such as Faisal Hayyat, Nazeeha Saeed, and Nabeel Rajab, among others, have increasingly come under attack by authorities since the 2011 pro-democracy protests. Arbitrary arrests of journalists, systematic torture and impunity have turned Bahrain into a dangerous country for those who speak out. The country is ranked 162nd out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) 2016 World Press Freedom Index and has become one of the biggest detainers for journalists and bloggers with at least 14 behind bars as of today.
Furthermore, the government has also censored and restricted the media, most recently in January, temporarily suspending the online version of Alwasat, the only independent newspaper in the country. Through a combination of media and counterterrorism legislation, as well as excessive government oversight, to justify their actions against the press and journalists, Bahraini officials continue to act with impunity.
The targeting and judicial harassment of journalists simply performing their work is unacceptable and violates international human rights standards. Bahrain is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states in Article 19 that “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression.” This includes the requirement that “a free press and other media [be] able to comment on public issues without censorship or restraint and to inform public opinion.” The pattern of reprisals and suppression of freedom of express far exceeds the limited restrictions placed on this right under article 19.3.
We, the undersigned, raise our concerns about restrictions on free press and expression in Bahrain and call on the Bahraini government to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Sayed Ahmed Salman al-Mousawi and all other journalists arrested and imprisoned for merely exercising their right to free expression;
- Guarantee the right to free expression by removing restrictions on the media and peaceful dissent, and foster an independent free press to fulfil Bahrain’s international human rights obligations.
Signed,
ActiveWatch (Romania)
Africa Freedom of Information Centre
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
Article 19
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
Bytes for All, Pakistan
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
European Center for Democracy and Human Rights
Freedom House
Gulf Center for Human Rights
Index on Censorship
Journaliste en Danger (JED)
Maharat Foundation
Media Foundation for West Africa
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1492705737868-c65e7005-0971-10″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
22 Mar 17 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured
Bahrain’s decision to file charges against Ebrahim Sharif underscores the country’s tactical use of judicial harassment to suppress freedom of speech.
Ebrahim Sharif, the former secretary-general of the secular opposition group National Democratic Action Society (Wa’ad), was charged with “inciting racial hatred against the regime” under article 165 of Bahrain’s penal code. The alleged offenses stem from tweets Sharif posted.
“As we have seen in Bahrain’s treatment of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, the charges against Ebrahim Sharif target freedom of expression in an attempt to stifle even the mildest criticism,” Melody Patry, head of advocacy, Index on Censorship said.
In the charges the public prosecution office quoted one of Sharif’s tweets: “The ministry of justice threatens to dissolve the remaining opposition societies because they ‘lost the fundamentals of political activity.’ What remains of the decor of the democratic state?”
The prosecution alleges that the use of the word “decor” implies that there is no democracy in Bahrain, a crime according to them.
The prosecution is also citing three other Twitter conversations: an exchange in which Sharif reminded the Tunisian interior minister, who had demanded respect for Bahraini sovereignty, that Tunisia’s ousted president Ben Ali had expressed the same sentiment to repress the opposition during the Arab spring; a series of tweets about protester Abdulla Alzjooz, who Sharif referred to as a “martyr”; and a retweet of an Amnesty International poster commemorating the 6th anniversary of the arrests of leaders of the 14th February movement, with which Sharif included a message of respect.
The Bahrain Institute of Rights and Democracy reported that it is currently unclear whether the case will be transferred to the courts, or if the government has imposed a travel ban on the political leader, who was previously imprisoned from 2011 to 2015, and then again from 2015 to 2016 on similar charges stemming from his involvement in the pro-democracy movement and speeches he delivered. He could now face up to three more years in prison.
The charges against Sharif came on the same day a Bahraini court heard opened dissolution proceedings against Wa’ad. he Bahraini government is accusing Wa’ad of inciting violence and filed for the group’s dissolution earlier in March, though it provided no evidence of its allegations. Wa’ad’s lawyers requested time to respond to the charges, and the next court date is set for 17 April 2017.
