06 Dec 17 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”95198″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The 19th hearing of the leading Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab was unexpectedly held earlier than the court had originally ruled.
On 3 December, one of the lawyers was informally told by the court that the 2012 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award-winning Rajab’s hearing would take place on 5 December – almost 4 weeks earlier than the agreed date. The court claimed that this was because a key witness, the man who initially arrested Rajab and confiscated his electronic devices, would be travelling on 31 December and unable to attend the hearing.
The case is related to comments on Rajab’s Twitter account about the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen, and further comments exposing the torture in Bahrain’s notorious Jau prison. If convicted, Rajab will be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He is already serving a two-year sentence for conducting TV interviews.
Despite the protests of Rajab’s lawyers, who wrote to the court on 4 December to ask that the arguments instead be heard on 31 December, the hearing went ahead on Tuesday 5 December. However, the hearing was adjourned until 7 December for the defence to be given further preparation time to prepare the questions and interview Nabeel. Rajab was not present at the hearing due to an ongoing illness.
Despite the Public Prosecution’s failure to provide any incriminating evidence against Rajab, the court continues to chase evidence against him. In November, the prosecution requested to call on the officer who confiscated Rajab’s electronic devices to be examined in court. This request was granted and the trial was adjourned to 31 December. The sudden rearrangement of the trial has not given Rajab’s legal team adequate time to prepare, and violates Rajab’s right to a fair trial.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: “The rescheduling of Nabeel’s trial for a significantly earlier date is especially worrying, since it suggests that he may be sentenced soon. It is probable that the government of Bahrain will use the distraction of the Christmas period to bury further news of Nabeel’s fate. The continued, unethical support of the UK and the US to Bahrain fosters a culture of impunity.”
Joy Hyvarinen, head of advocacy at Index on Censorship, said: “The moving of the hearing without due notice to Nabeel and his legal team violates his right to a fair trial and international norms for justice.”
In September 2017, a new set of charges was brought against Rajab related to social media posts. The posts were allegedly made in January 2017, when Rajab was already in detention and without internet access. Rajab also faces a fourth set of charges relating to a letter he penned to the New York Times in September 2016. In July 2017 he was sentenced to two years in prison for “spreading false news”; An appeal court upheld his sentence last month.
Rajab was transferred from the Manama Fort hospital to Jau Prison on 25 October 2017. On arrival he was immediately mistreated, subjected to a humiliating physical search, and shaved against his will. All of his personal effects, including books, clothes, toiletries and his shaving set, were confiscated. He is now kept with another 5 prisoners in a very small cell of no more than 3×3 meters.
Rajab is being continuously deprived of his basic rights in Jau Prison. He is denied any books, a specially-designed pillow that he requires for medical reasons, and the cotton clothing his family members gave to him. The clothing is particularly important, given that Nabeel is allergic to the synthetic clothes provided by Jau Prison.
Rajab also complains of a poor, insufficient diet; he is not allowed to visit the prison canteen to buy snacks and is allowed out of his cell for no more than one hour each day. A formal complaint to the Ombudsman has already been made about his treatment, but with no positive results so far.
Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was arrested on 13 June 2016 and has been detained ever since. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) which state: “pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, with due regard for the investigation of the alleged offence and for the protection of society and the victim.”
In early April 2017, Rajab was admitted to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital for a necessary surgery. He was transferred back to police custody just a day later, before he had fully recovered from his operation. As a result, his health deteriorated significantly; from there he was transferred to the Ministry of Interior Clinic (Al-Qalaa), where he remains to date. Between April and August 2017, Rajab was unable to attend court, leading numerous hearings to be held in his absence. Rajab was transferred back to Jau Prison in October.
The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.
The UK Foreign Office stated: “We continue to closely monitor the case of Nabeel Rajab and have frequently raised it with the Bahraini Government at the highest levels. The UK Government continues to emphasise the need to respect the rights of all citizens, including freedom of expression.”
In the US, the Trump administration this year removed Obama-era human rights conditions on arms sales, one of which was the unconditional release of Rajab. In November, President Trump announced the advancement of $9 billion in commercial deals with the government of Bahrain, including finalizing the purchase of several American F16 jets.
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22 Nov 17 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
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Protesters call for freedom for Nabeel Rajab outside the Bahraini embassy in London.
Nabeel Rajab’s sentence to two years in prison for speaking to journalists was upheld on 22 November 2017 by a Bahraini appeals court at the conclusion of a long-running, unfair trial.
Rajab will serve his sentence at notorious Jau Prison until December 2018, by which time he will have actually spent two and a half years in prison. He faces up to 15 years in prison in a second case related to his comments on Twitter, with the next hearing on 31 December. Index on Censorship and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) condemns Rajab’s imprisonment, which is a reprisal against his work as a human rights defender, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
Rajab was sentenced in absentia on 10 July 2017 on charges of “publishing and broadcasting fake news that undermines the prestige of the state” under article 134 of Bahrain’s Penal Code. This is in relation to statements he has made to media that:
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International Journalists and researchers are barred from entering the country
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The courts lack independence and controlled by the government. Use judiciary as a tool to crush dissidents.
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Foreign mercenaries are employed in the security forces to repress citizens
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Torture is systematic in Bahrain.
In the last appeal court hearing on 8 November, the judge refused to allow the defence’s evidence, which included testimonies of high-profile journalists and researchers who had been banned from entering Bahrain.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, BIRD: “This is a slap in the face of free expression and tragically proves Nabeel’s point that the justice system is corrupt. Bahrain’s rulers are fearful of the truth and have lashed out against it once again. This Bahraini repression has been enabled by their western allies in the US and UK.”
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO, Index on Censorship: “This is an outrageous decision. Nabeel has committed no crime. Bahrain needs to end this injustice and its harassment of Nabeel.”
The Bahraini courts have failed to provide Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), a fair trial at every turn. He has been prosecuted for his expression, as protected under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. During his hospitalisation earlier this year, multiple court hearings were held in Rajab’s absence, including his sentencing in July.
Rajab had a separate hearing on 19 November 2017 in a concurrent case relating to his tweets about torture in Bahrain’s notorious Jau Prison and the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen, for which he faces up to 15 additional years in prison. The court heard a prosecution witness, who had already appeared in a previous hearing last year, and who was not able to provide any evidence against Rajab. The trial was adjourned to 31 December 2017, when the security officer who confiscated Rajab’s electronic devices for another case will be brought as a prosecution witness. The next court hearing will be the eighteenth since the trial began.
Rajab also has been charged with “spreading false news” in relation to a letter he wrote to the New York Times in September 2016. A new set of charges were brought against Rajab in September 2017 in relation to social media posts made in January 2017, when he was already in detention and without internet access.
The human rights defender was transferred to Jau Prison on 25 October 2017, having been hospitalised the previous six months, since April, after a serious deterioration of his health resulting from the authorities’ denial of adequate medical care and unhygienic conditions of detention.
Rajab was subjected to humiliating treatment on arrival at the prison, when guards immediately searched him in a degrading manner and shaved his hair by force. Prison authorities have singled him out by confiscating his books, toiletries and clothes, and raiding his cell at night. Rajab is isolated from other prisoners convicted for speech-related crimes and is instead detained in a three-by-three meter cell with five inmates. Prison officers have threatened him with punishment if he speaks with other inmates, and he is not allowed out of his cell for more than one hour a day.
One of Rajab’s outstanding charges is that he spoke out about the degrading treatment in Jau Prison.The evidence he and BCHR gathered proving torture in the prison was exposed in a joint-NGO report, Inside Jau, in 2015. Human Rights Watch also reported on the same incidents of torture.
The upholding of the sentence means Rajab will be imprisoned at least until December 2018, by which time he will have spent 30 months in prison. This itself reflects the unfair court procedures: Rajab was first arrested in June 2016 and charged with spreading fake news in media interviews. However, the prosecution did not begin investigating his charges until six months into his detention, in December 2016.
International Positions
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has avoided expressing concern over Nabeel Rajab’s sentencing in its answers to four parliamentary questions since July. In their latest statement, they stated: “We continue to closely monitor the case of Nabeel Rajab and have frequently raised it with the Bahraini Government at the highest levels.”
25 British MPs have condemned the sentence.
Following Rajab’s sentencing on 10 July, the United States, European Union and Norway all called for Rajab’s release. Germany deplored his sentence. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ office called for his unconditional release.
In September 2017, the UN condemned the increasing number of Bahraini human rights defenders facing reprisals, naming nine affected individuals, Rajab among them. The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.
Yesterday, fifteen international and local NGOs wrote to states including the UK, US, EU, Norway, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and Canada urging them to call for Nabeel Rajab’s immediate and unconditional release. Their voices were joined by protesters in London. In Washington D.C., a petition signed by 15,000 people calling for Rajab’s release was delivered to the Bahrain embassy.
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21 Nov 17 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
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Fifteen rights groups have written to 11 states and the European Union on 21 November 2017 calling for action ahead of the conclusion of Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab’s appeal against his two-year sentence for stating that Bahrain bars reporters and human rights workers from entry into the country.
In the letters, which are addressed to the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, as well as Germany, Ireland, France, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway and Canada, the rights groups ask the states “to urgently raise, both publicly and privately, the case of Nabeel Rajab, one of the Gulf’s most prominent human rights defenders.” The letter further urges governments to support Rajab “by condemning his sentencing and calling for his immediate and unconditional release, and for all outstanding charges against him to be dropped.”
On 22 November 2017 Mr Rajab is expecting the conclusion of his appeal against a two-year prison sentence. Rajab was sentenced on 10 July 2017 on charges of “publishing and broadcasting fake news that undermines the prestige of the state” under article 134 of Bahrain’s Penal Code, in relation to his statement to journalists that the Bahraini government bars reporters and human rights workers from entering the country. In a previous appeal court hearing earlier this month, the judge refused to allow the defence’s evidence, including testimonies of journalists and researchers who had been banned from entering Bahrain.
The human rights defender, who is President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), has been detained since his arrest on 13 June 2016. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules).
Rajab faces up to a further 15 years in prison on a second set of charges related to comments he made on Twitter criticising the Saudi-led war in Yemen and exposing torture in Bahrain. His 18th court hearing will be held on 31 December 2017. In September, the Public Prosecution brought new charges against related to social media posts made while he was already in detention; he has also been charged with “spreading false news” in relation to his letter from a Bahraini jail published in the New York Times.
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“The ongoing judicial harassment of Nabeel Rajab is a gross injustice. Nabeel is a man of peace who seeks democratic reforms for his country. His persecution for expressing his opinions — something taken for granted in many nations — must not stand. We call on Bahrain to recognise international human rights norms by releasing Nabeel and ending its prosecution of him.” — Jodie Ginsberg, CEO, Index on Censorship
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Rajab was transferred to Jau Prison on 25 October 2017. He was subjected to humiliating treatment on arrival, when guards immediately searched him in a degrading manner and shaved his hair by force. Prison authorities have singled him out by confiscating his books, toiletries and clothes, and raiding his cell at night. Rajab is isolated from other prisoners convicted for speech-related crimes and is instead detained in a three-by-three metre cell with five inmates.
Campaigners today protested outside the Bahrain embassy in London to call on the Bahraini regime to release Nabeel Rajab and end reprisal attacks against the family of Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, a prominent UK-based human rights campaigner living in exile from Bahrain, who is Director of Advocacy at the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “Nabeel Rajab has been imprisoned for exposing injustice in Bahrain. Three of my own family members have been imprisoned and tortured for my human rights campaigning. The Bahraini government pursues a pattern of revenge tactics against human rights defenders, but we will not rest until they are freed. If the UK government cares for the rights of Bahraini people, then it must tell its repressive ally that this violent campaign to silence us is unacceptable.”
The 15 rights groups are:
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy
English PEN
European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
FIDH within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Front Line Defenders
Global Legal Action Network
Gulf Centre for Human Rights
IFEX
Index on Censorship
International Service for Human Rights
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders
World Organisation Against Torture within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
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21 Nov 17 | About Index
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship joins with a coalition of organisations to write to governments about the ongoing judicial harassment of 2012 Freedom of Expression Award-winner Nabeel Rajab.
Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab
We write to ask you to urgently raise, both publicly and privately, the case of Nabeel Rajab, one of the Gulf’s most prominent human rights defenders, who on 22 November 2017 is expecting the conclusion of his appeal against a two-year prison sentence for stating that Bahrain bars reporters and human rights workers from entry into the country. We urge your government to support Mr Rajab by condemning his sentencing and calling for his immediate and unconditional release, and for all outstanding charges against him to be dropped.
The Bahraini government is clearly setting out to prosecute and punish Mr Rajab for his human rights work, doing so in violation of both the principles of a fair trial and the right to freedom of expression. The targeting of Mr Rajab for his work and comments reflects the dangerous situation for human rights defenders in Bahrain. Silence over reprisals against individuals exercising their right to free expression emboldens the Government of Bahrain to pursue further reprisals. Mr Rajab is one of many Bahraini human rights defenders who have suffered reprisals in 2017. Human rights defender Ebtisam al-Sayegh was tortured and sexually assaulted by the National Security Agency in May and arrested for her work in July; since released from jail, she faces anti-terrorism charges. Three family members of UK-based campaigner Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei were arrested, tortured and sentenced to three years in prison in October.
Mr Rajab, who is President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Founding Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and Deputy Secretary General of FIDH, has been detained since his arrest on 13 June 2016. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) which state: “pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, with due regard for the investigation of the alleged offence and for the protection of society and the victim.” The human rights defender was transferred to Jau Prison on 25 October 2017, having been hospitalised since April after a serious deterioration of his health resulting from the authorities’ denial of adequate medical care and unhygienic conditions of detention.
Mr Rajab was subjected to humiliating treatment on arrival at Jau Prison, when guards immediately searched him in a degrading manner and shaved his hair by force. Prison authorities have singled him out by confiscating his books, toiletries and clothes, and raiding his cell at night. Mr Rajab is isolated from other prisoners convicted for speech-related crimes and is instead detained in a three-by-three meter cell with five inmates, among them convicted Daesh affiliates. Prison officers have threatened him with punishment if he speaks with other inmates, and he is not allowed out of his cell for more than one hour a day. One of Mr Rajab’s outstanding charges is that he spoke out about the degrading treatment in Jau Prison. The evidence he and BCHR gathered proving torture in the prison was exposed in a joint-NGO report, Inside Jau, in 2015. Human Rights Watch also reported on the same incidents of torture.
Mr Rajab’s two-year sentencing on 10 July 2017 was on charges of “publishing and broadcasting false news that undermines the prestige of the state” under article 134 of Bahrain’s Penal Code, in relation to his statement to journalists that the Bahraini government bars reporters and human rights workers from entering the country. The Lower Criminal Court held nine hearings during Mr Rajab’s hospitalisation which he was unable to attend. His appeal began in September; on 8 November, Mr Rajab’s lawyers disputed the charge by submitting video evidence of journalists and researchers being denied entry into Bahrain, however the court, led by Judge Bader al-Abdulla, refused to allow the evidence in court.
Mr Rajab had a separate hearing on 19 November 2017 in a concurrent case relating to his tweets about torture in Bahrain’s notorious Jau Prison and the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen, for which he faces up to 15 additional years in prison. The court heard a prosecution witness, who had already appeared in a previous hearing last year, and who was not able to provide any evidence against Mr Rajab. The trial was adjourned to 31 December 2017, when the security officer who confiscated Mr Rajab’s electronic devices for another case will be brought as a prosecution witness. We, the undersigned organisations, consider that the long-running trial – the next court hearing will be the eighteenth since the trial began – is a reprisal against Mr Rajab’s expression. Mr Rajab also has been charged with “spreading false news” in relation to a letter he wrote to the New York Times in September 2016. A new set of charges were brought against Mr Rajab in September 2017 in relation to social media posts made in January 2017, when he was already in detention and without internet access.
In June 2017, United Nations human rights experts condemned the “sharp deterioration of the human rights situation” in Bahrain. This deterioration has included executions, unlawful killing of protesters and new reprisals against human rights defenders. In September 2017, the UN condemned the increasing number of Bahraini human rights defenders facing reprisals, naming nine affected individuals, Mr Rajab among them. The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Mr Rajab’s release.
We therefore urge your government to call on Bahrain to: immediately release Mr Rajab ahead of the final verdict on 22 November 2017 regarding his appeal against a two-year prison sentence; drop all charges against him; and undertake prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigations into the allegations of ill-treatment. The findings of the investigation must be made public and anyone suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice in fair proceedings. As this case is a part of a pattern of abuse and harassment against human rights defenders in Bahrain, we urge you to call on Bahrain to cease all harassment of human rights defenders and to ensure the full respect of the right to freedom of expression.
Yours sincerely,
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy
English PEN
European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
FIDH within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Front Line Defenders
Global Legal Action Network
Gulf Centre for Human Rights
IFEX
Index on Censorship
International Service for Human Rights
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders
World Organisation Against Torture within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
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