17 Apr 15 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, mobile, News and features
Nabeel Rajab during a protest in London in September (Photo: Milana Knezevic)
Ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix this weekend in Bahrain, Index on Censorship calls on the government of Bahrain to release human rights activist Nabeel Rajab and fellow human rights defenders.
Rajab — a winner of the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards in 2012 — was arrested on April 2 on charges involving a series of recent tweets and an opinion piece published in the Huffington Post. If he is convicted on all current charges, Rajab — who was only released from jail last May after two year’s detention — could face more than 10 years in prison.
His last jail sentence followed protests during the Formula One race in April 2012, and he was a leading mediator in securing a commitment from Formula One — announced last week — to respect human rights in Bahrain and other countries in which it conducts business. It is the first time in its history that Formula One has committed publicly to respecting internationally recognised human rights in all of its operations.
Rajab’s continued harassment and prosecution is a clear violation of his right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that, “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”.
Index calls on the government of Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release Rajab from custody and drop all charges against him. We also urge Bahrain to uphold its international commitments to supporting human rights, including free expression, and call on the international community to ensure Bahrain meets those commitments.
18 Mar 15 | Bahrain, Campaigns
After several unsuccessful appeals to prison administration officials for adequate medical assistance, leading Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has publically announced that he has gone on hunger strike in protest of his continued arbitrary detention and mistreatment while in prison.
Al-Khawaja, who began the water-only hunger strike on 2 March 2015, is suffering from serious health issues and is at severe risk of further health complications.
“He sounded weak and exhausted on the phone to an extent that we could tell how sick he was, but this won’t stop him from battling for his freedom and the freedom of all human rights defenders in Bahrain,” said his daughter Maryam Al-Khawaja, Co-Director of at the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR).
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, the Co-founder of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), was sentenced to life in prison in June 2011 for peaceful human rights activities The undersigned organizations and individuals express their grave concern about the continued mistreatment of Al-Khawaja while in detention and call on the Government of Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally address Al-Khawaja’s legitimate demands.
On 23 February 2015, Al-Khawaja delivered a letter to the head of Jaw prison informing the authorities that he would be starting a hunger strike on 2 March 2015 including the demands listed below.
Specific demands related to the hunger strike:
1. Hand over a copy of his medical file to his family or his lawyer to get a second opinion on a much-needed operation. This request was previously made on 2 January 2015.
2. Allow visitation rights to his son-in-law via the procedure of making special requests, according to standard procedures.
3. Allow flexibility in the number of people permitted during family visits as it used to be 10 but had been reduced to six.
4. Make available the prison law list to make clear what rights and obligations prisoners have.
5. Allow families to bring magazines to prisoners, which used to be allowed but have been stopped since three weeks ago.
6. Make available Al-Wasat and Al-Watan newspapers with the rest of newspapers available.
7. Allow families to bring a radio or make it available at the prison store as per the decision that was made five months ago but not implemented after the banning of MP3 players.
8. Set up a mechanism for follow up in regards to the other issues related to Building 7 at Jaw prison.
General demands:
1. Protest about continued arbitrary arrests and lack of investigation into torture.
2. Protest against the generally bad situation in the prison, especially in the recent period.
Background information:
On 4 September 2012, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a decision on Al-Khawaja’s case, defining it as “arbitrary” and calling for his immediate release. This is at least the fourth time Al-Khawaja has gone on a water-only hunger strike, putting him at serious risk of cardiac arrest or slipping into a coma. During the last phone call he made to his family on 14 March, Al-Khawaja’s blood sugar was 2.5, his blood pressure was 90/60, his weight had gone down 10 kilos to 53, ketone level was 2+, and he sounded exhausted and weak on the phone. He also informed his family that the doctors conveyed a threat from officers that if his health further deteriorates, he will be forcibly moved and force fed, an action that is considered torture by the United Nations experts.
According to a local internal medicine specialist, “When fat stocks are used up after prolonged or recurrent periods of hunger strikes, a catastrophic protein catabolism will develop. Main somatic complications ensuing from these physiopathological mechanisms are dehydration, shock, renal failure, stroke, hypoglycemic coma, metabolic disturbances (arrhythmias), vitamin deficiencies (Gayet-Wernicke), peptic ulcers and nephrolithiasis, without forgetting the major risks associated with re-nutrition.”
She warned, “Serious complications and death occur especially from the fortieth day on, but early and unexpected complications are possible. Close medical monitoring is recommended after 10% of weight loss in lean healthy individuals. Serious medical problems begin at a loss of approximately 18% from initial body weight. The risk of neurological signs by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency is common in cases of fasting with exclusive intake of sugar and liquids.” Those who go on hunger strike are prone to have multiple deficiencies including iron deficiency, Vitamin b12 and Folate deficiency which will make them at greater risk of developing anemia.
Al-Khawaja’s family members noticed that he was very pale, which could be secondary to chronic anemia due to his recurrent hunger strikes with underlying malnutrition conditions. Chronic anemia especially in cases of hunger strike with Folate or B12 and other mineral deficiencies will make persons undergoing hunger strikes prone to have cardiac failure with high risk of arrhythmia.
We the undersigned organisations and individuals call on the Government of Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who has been imprisoned solely for practicing his right to free expression and as a result of his human rights work. We also call on the authorities in Bahrain to respond to Al-Khawaja’s demands, and to guarantee better prison conditions for all prisoners in Bahrain.
Signed:
Avocats Sans Frontier (ASF)
Amman Center for Human Rights Studies
Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO)
Bahrain Salam for Human Rights
Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
CIVICUS : World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Damien McCormack – Irish Surgeon and activist
European Bahraini Organization for Human Rights (EBOHR)
Freedom House
Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR)
Index on Censorship
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Service for Human Rights
Khiam Center for Rehabilitation
Lawyer’s Rights Watch Canada
Lord Eric Avebury – Vice-Chair, Parliamentary Human Rights Group UK
MENA Monitoring Group
No Peace Without Justice
PEN International
Sentinel Defenders
The International Center for Supporting Rights and Freedoms
Yemen Organization for Defending Rights and Democratic Freedoms
Participate in our campaign #FreeAlkhawaja
Take an active role in our solidarity campaign by supporting Al-Khawaja in his hunger strike battle, by signing the petition to free Al-Khawaja on the following link:
https://www.change.org/p/the-government-of-bahrain-freealkhawaja-immediately-and-unconditionally-2?just_created=true
And post your photo with the hash-tag #FreeAlkhawaja on:
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gulf-Center-For-Human-Rights/273623332709903
Twitter: @GulfCentre4HR
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/1/112405182651959689611/posts
15 Mar 15 | Bahrain, Campaigns, Middle East and North Africa, mobile
Index on Censorship award winner Nabeel Rajab had the final hearing on his appeal delayed for a third time, until April 15. Rajab, who is appealing his sentence over a tweet, remains under a travel ban.
“It is clear that Bahrain government can’t simply send Bahrain’s leading human rights defenders to jail while the United Nation’s human rights council in Geneva is still in session. Intimidation against him will not stop, they don’t want to end up his case as it will lead to lifting the travel ban, which is something Bahraini government very afraid of”, Sayed Alwadaei, director of advocacy for Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, told Index in an email.
Index’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg said that “the continual postponements of Nabeel’s court dates is another example of how justice is not being served in Bahrain. While his case is still pending, Nabeel is not free to travel, and kept in perpetual uncertainty about his future. And all because Nabeel expressed an opinion. We call on the Bahraini authorities to drop all charges against him and for the international community to ensure that Bahrain meets its international commitments on human rights.”
In January, Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was handed down a six-month suspended sentence pending a fine over the following tweet:
Bahrain’s ministry of interior and ministry of defence both alleged the tweet “denigrated government institutions”. Rajab was released on bail while appealing the verdict, the outcome of which was expected on March 15 before being delayed a month.
Rajab, one of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights activist, has been continuously targeted by authorities in relation to his human rights campaigning work. He was released from prison last May, where he spent two years on charges which included writing offensive tweets and participating in illegal protests.
On 12 March, Rajab wrote to Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief. Calling for further international support for himself and his fellow human rights activists, he said he was “deeply disappointed by the EU’s lack of strong action to back up its human rights commitments in its foreign policy”.
He also wrote of his latest questioning by police, in early March. He says he was accused of inciting hatred towards the regime, for, among other things “accusing the police and ministry of interior with torturing detainees” and “calling the events happening in Bahrain a revolution”.
“These accusations cannot more obviously target my freedoms of expression and association,” Rajab stated. “Moreover, they are directly related to my work as a human rights activist.”
Echoing Rajab, Alwadaei believes the response from the international community could have significant impact on Rajab’s case: “I strongly believe the moment they [Bahraini authorities] feel they have less international pressure on his case he will be sent directly to prison.”
This article was posted on 13 March 2015 at indexoncensorship.org
04 Mar 15 | Bahrain
Nabeel Rajab during a protest in London in September (Photo: Milana Knezevic)
Index on Censorship award winner Nabeel Rajab was told today to expect a decision in his case on March 15. The travel ban against Rajab is still in place.
Rajab was handed down a six month suspended sentence pending payment of a fine in January. He is seeking to overturn that verdict, which stems from a tweet that both the ministry of interior and the ministry of defence allege “denigrated government institutions”.
Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and a member of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East Advisory Board, has continuously been targeted by Bahraini authorities over his human rights campaigning work. He reported on 26 February he had again been summoned by the police.
“Just to inform you that I was summoned today to attend the police station at the same time – and I came to know that the new charge against me will incitement of hatred against the regime,” he wrote in an email to supporters. On Sunday March 1, he was allowed to leave the police station after questioning.
Rajab was released in May 2014 after spending two years in prison on spurious charges including writing offensive tweets and taking part in illegal protests.
This article was posted on March 4, 2015 at indexoncensorship.org
