10 Oct 14 | Events, Press Releases
Bahrain human rights defender and 2012 Index Award Winner Nabeel Rajab is being detained and facing trial under arrest for peacefully expressing his views on Twitter.
Please join Index on Censorship and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) for a press conference with Bahraini activist and Co-Director of Gulf Centre for Human Rights Maryam Alkhawaja, who was released from prison three weeks ago, to discuss Nabeel Rajab’s detention and the recent developments in Bahrain.
WHEN: Wednesday October 15 at 11.00am
WHERE: Index on Censorship office: 92-94 Tooley Street, SE1 2TH, London.
For more information and to RSVP, please email [email protected] or call 0207 260 2660
Background for editors
Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, is being charged for “insulting a public institution” over a tweet.
The arrest came less than 24 hours after Rajab returned to Bahrain from an advocacy trip where he spent over two months traveling throughout Europe to advocate for human rights in Bahrain. He also attended the UN 27th Human Rights Council Sessions to advocate for human rights in Bahrain and campaign for greater support to the Bahraini people’s struggle for rights and democracy.
Rajab was imprisoned in Bahrain for two years between July 2012 and May 2014 for exercising his right to freedom of assembly by participating in and calling for peaceful protests, in the capital city Manama, in defence of people’s rights. Before that he was prosecuted on multiple occasions for his tweets. Rajab has over 239,000 followers on twitter (@NabeelRajab) and his voice online is one of the most prominent in Bahrain, and across the Middle East. Following his release, Rajab continued to receive threats of repeated arrested, but was determined to continue with his peaceful human rights work.
Human rights activist Maryam Alkhawaja was released from prison in Bahrain in September but the charges against her still stand. Alkhawaja was arrested when she travelled to Bahrain to visit her father, prominent human rights defender and co-founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Abdulhadi Alkhawaja.
This will be her first UK press conference since her release.
19 Sep 14 | Bahrain, Digital Freedom, News and features
Maryam al Khawaja has been released
Political activist Maryam Alkhawaja has been released from prison but the charges against her still stand.
Alkhawaja was arrested at the end of last month when she travelled to Bahrain to visit her father, prominent human rights defender and co-founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who has now been on hunger strike for almost four weeks.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, head of advocacy at Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), told Index on Censorship he felt Maryam Alkhawaja’s release was a clear example of how international advocacy can be a success. However, he said they are still concerned about her: “We are kind of really getting mixed messages whether her release is just to ease the international pressure,” he added.
A guarantee of a residing address, and a travel ban were the conditions of Alkhawaja’s release. She is also due in court at the beginning of next month, to face charges of assaulting a police officer, which she denies.
Khalid Ibrahim, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) co-director, said: “We call on the government of Bahrain to immediately drop the charges and free her without conditions.”
This week BCHR and GCHR wrote an open letter to Abdulhadi Alkhawaja urging him to end his hunger strike as his life is at serious risk due to prolonged starvation. He also undertook a hunger strike in 2012 which lasted for 110 days.
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja responded from prison yesterday. Thanking his friends for their concern, he added: “But as the world can see we’re in a situation where our only choice to demand rights and freedoms is by risking our lives.”
Ibrahim added, “Abdulhadi should also be freed, along with other wrongfully detained human rights defenders who have been targeted as a result of their peaceful and legitimate activities in defence of human rights.”
Yesterday, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) and Bird, along with co-sponsors from several NGOs, hosted an event at the 27th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, entitled Tracking Bahrain’s UPR (Universal Periodic Review) Inaction Through 2014.
The discussion was moderated by prominent human rights activist and president of the BCHR, Nabeel Rajab. Speakers at the event were Philippe Dam (Human Rights Watch), Said Haddadi (Amnesty International), James Suzano (ADHRB), Abdulnabi al Ekri (Bahrain Human Rights Organisation – BHRO) and Nidal al Salman (BCHR).
Alwadaei said the event received good coverage, and it was very beneficial for political prisoners in Bahrain. “It was a place where they would hear their voice, where they will basically believe that they are not on their own in this struggle, there is an international community monitoring so they are not isolated,” he told Index.
Also this week, women’s rights defender Ghada Jamsheer was arrested and detained on charges of defamation on Twitter. GCHR and BCHR say her online blog has been blocked in Bahrain since 2009, and they believe these recent charges to be a direct violation of her human rights.
This article was posted on 19 September 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
28 Mar 14 | Bahrain Statements, Campaigns
Every year, the Bahraini government hopes the roar of Formula One cars will drown out criticism for the regime’s human rights violations. This year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) asks you to ensure that does not happen.
How to Show Your Support
1. Join the #F1 Thunderclap action and support the campaign with Twitter, Facebook, or both.
2. Tell all of your friends and followers to join the campaign.
3. On April 6, watch as everyone’s messages are simultaneously shared at the start of the F1 race.
4. Continue speaking out for press freedom in Bahrain using the #F1 hashtag.
Background
CPJ and RSF have documented a consistent attempt by the Bahraini government to censor the press since the launch of a mass protest movement on February 14, 2011. In that time, at least three news providers have been killed for their work and many more have been subject to arrestand even torture. Many news providers remain imprisoned today. Several journalists have been forced into exile in fear for their safety.
The government has also limited access to international journalists and human rights organizations seeking to cover the ongoing unrest and repression in the country, including the imprisoned IFEX member, Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Meanwhile, some protesters on the street have assaulted journalists considered sympathetic to the government.
Help put the brakes on press censorship in Bahrain by joining this campaign.
For more information on press freedom in Bahrain, please visit:
http://www.cpj.org/mideast/bahrain/
http://en.rsf.org/bahrain.html
04 Nov 13 | Bahrain, United Kingdom
Britain is to send the Royal Air Force Red Arrows display team to perform Bahrain, just weeks after negotiations opened on the sale of BAE Eurofighter jets to the tiny Gulf Kingdom.
Bahrain’s ruling family has been engaged in brutal repression of protesters since a democratic uprising began i n February 2011. Britain has been repeatedly criticised for selling weapons and other military hardware to the regime while the crackdown continues.
Earlier today, Index reported the awarding of yet another international prize to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, which has been battling peacefully for democracy in Bahrain under increasing repression since the uprising. The campaign group won the Norwegian Rafto Human Rights Prize.
Center leader Nabeel Rajab was imprisoned not long after accepting an Index on Censorship Free Expression Award in 2012, and remains in jail.
There have been dozens of violent deaths in Bahrain since the beginning of the uprising, many put down to the regime forces’ indiscriminate use of tear gas, which it is reported to be stockpiling.
A press release published on the Bahrain News Agency Portal today says:
One of the world’s premier aerobatic teams, Britain’s famous Red Arrows, is to display in Bahrain as part of a Middle East tour.
The team, with its nine distinctive red jets, will perform a series of precision formations and dynamic loops and rolls when it visits on Sunday, November 10.
[…]
The Team’s visit to the region has come about after accepting an invitation to the Dubai Air Show, where the Red Arrows will perform each day between November 17 and 21.
It is an opportunity being used by the Team to visit other nations in an important region, with which the United Kingdom has strong links to.
Indeed, Britain’s armed forces have a deep historical tie with Bahrain dating back over 200 years.
As ambassadors for the UK, the Red Arrows showcase the excellence of the Royal Air Force.
The team, which currently fly BAE Systems Hawk aircraft, consists of nine display pilots, all of whom are from frontline squadrons. Each has previously operated other Royal Air Force fast jets, such as the Tornado or the Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft
Bahrain has a great interest in the excellence of British hardware and expertise. As well as looking to buy an “unspecified number of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets”, Bahrain already imports hardware including weapons from Britain. Meanwhile, former senior Metropolitan police officer John Yates was engaged to advise the government on policing and dealing with civil unrest.
