21 Mar 18 | Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
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On Wednesday 21 March 2018, a Bahraini Criminal Court convicted and sentenced Duaa Alwadaei to two months in prison for allegedly insulting a public institution. Duaa was sentenced in absentia after exposing her ill-treatment committed by Bahraini security forces at the Bahrain International Airport in October 2016, which Human Rights Watch described as “terrorizing”.
Duaa’s conviction falls on Mother’s Day in Bahrain and represents the latest escalation in the reprisals against the human rights advocacy of her husband, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who is the Director of the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).
Duaa did not receive any formal notification of the charges against her until her conviction. It was assumed that her charges relate to Duaa’s detention and interrogation at the airport in October 2016, following Sayed Ahmed’s participation in a protest in London.
The following day, Duaa told Human Rights Watch that during her interrogation, she was physically mistreated, repeatedly insulted and warned that her family would be imprisoned if she exposed her ill-treatment and her husband’s activities continued. She had been warned “not to speak out” about the incident, having been threatened with further police interrogations and fabricated criminal charges that could lead to a three-year imprisonment upon conviction. Eventually, Duaa’s tormentors carried out their threats.
Duaa’s then 18-month old son was present throughout the ordeal. He was forcibly separated from his mother and only reunited with her when Duaa’s interrogation began. Duaa told Human Rights Watch that her son was visibly “terrified” during the interrogation.
Commenting, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at BIRD said: “By coming after my loved ones to silence me, the Bahraini government has sunk to an all time low. Bahraini allies in Washington D.C. and London must condemn this cowardly attempt to muzzle my activism.”
Duaa’s trial was entirely held in absentia because she resides in London. Since lawyers can only be hired through particular channels in Bahrain, the Bahraini Embassy in London is best placed to give power of attorney to a designated lawyer. However, this option has not been pursued due to the recent involvement of the Embassy in the conviction of her family. However, a representative from the British Embassy in Manama attended the hearing today.
Duaa’s mother, Hajer Mansoor Hassan, is currently serving a three-year sentence at Isa Town Prison following a conviction based on a coerced confession. Hajer began a hunger strike yesterday in protest against the ill-treatment of political prisoners by prison officials.
Background
Duaa’s Case
The incident to which Duaa’s charges relate occurred on 26 October 2016. Following Sayed Ahmed’s participation in a protest against the King of Bahrain’s meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May in London, Duaa was detained at Bahrain International Airport for several hours. Here, she was physically mistreated, threatened with criminal charges, and repeatedly insulted. The official also presented Duaa with a travel ban, thereby preventing her return to London.
Duaa Alwadaei told Human Rights Watch in October that a senior official had referred to her husband as “an animal” and asked, menacingly during an interrogation at Bahrain airport, “Where shall I go first, shall I go to his family or your family?” She said that the officer, who appeared to be a senior official, told her: “Deliver this message to your husband – I will get him,” as she left the interrogation.
Since Duaa’s son is a US citizen, the US Embassy in Manama intervened following significant international pressure, thereby facilitating their return to London on 1 November 2016.
Harassment of Duaa’s Family
Duaa is the latest victim of the reprisal campaign launched by the Bahraini authorities in response to Sayed Ahmed’s work as a human rights defender. His mother-in-law, Hajer Mansoor Hassan, brother-in-law, Sayed Nizar Alwadaei, and cousin Mahmood Marzooq Mansoor have been subjected to grossly unfair trials and are currently serving sentences ranging from three to six years in prison on the basis of coerced confessions and fabricated charges.
Yesterday, Hajer declared a hunger strike to protest her mistreatment and the harsh discrimination suffered by political prisoners in Bahrain. Prison officers often harass political inmates and detainees by eavesdropping on personal conversations and deny them free hygiene products. Other inmates do not suffer from this treatment.
When Hajer complained to the officer by requesting that she be treated with respect, she was told that senior prison officials had instructed officers to make Hajer’s life “difficult”, and threatened that the more she exposes the conditions of imprisonment for political prisoners, the more she will be punished. Furthermore, the prison authorities have revoked the 10 minute phone call that Hajer had been rewarded for participating in daily workshops at the prison.
International Response
In its most recent comment on Duaa’s trial, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) simply reiterated that it will “continue to monitor proceedings”. The British government failed to call on the Bahraini authorities to drop the charges against Duaa.
Both the United Nations and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, have recognised the significance of the reprisals against Sayed Ahmed’s family.
Following her ordeal at the airport, the US Department of State commented on their involvement in the incident.
A British Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Julie Ward wrote to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, to express her concerns over the “judicial harassment of family members of prominent Bahraini activist, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who are being subjected to a collective punishment ”.
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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 | Mapping Media Freedom, media freedom featured, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”96621″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Governments have arsenals of weapons to censor information. The worst are well-known: detention, torture, extra-judicial (and sometimes court-sanctioned) killing, surveillance. Though governments also have access to less forceful but still insidious tools, such as website blocking and internet filtering, these aim to cut off the flow of information and advocacy at the source.
Another form of censorship gets limited attention, a kind of quiet repression: the travel ban. It’s the Trump travel ban in reverse, where governments exit rather than entry. They do so not merely to punish the banned but to deny the spread of information about the state of repression and corruption in their home countries.
In recent days I have heard from people around the world subject to such bans. Khadija Ismayilova, a journalist in Azerbaijan who has exposed high-level corruption, has suffered for years under fraudulent legal cases brought against her, including time in prison. The government now forbids her to travel. As she put it last year: “Corrupt officials of Azerbaijan, predators of the press and human rights are still allowed in high-level forums in democracies and able to speak about values, which they destroy in their own – our own country.”
Zunar, a well-known cartoonist who has long pilloried the leaders of Malaysia, has been subject to a travel ban since mid-2016, while also facing sedition charges for the content of his sharply dissenting art. While awaiting his preposterous trial, which could leave him with years in prison, he has missed exhibitions, public forums, high-profile talks. As he told me, the ban directly undermines his ability to network, share ideas, and build financial support.
Ismayilova and Zunar are not alone. India has imposed a travel ban against the coordinator of a civil society coalition in Kashmir because of “anti-India activities” which, the government alleges, are meant to cause youth to resort to violent protest. Turkey has aggressively confiscated passports to target journalists, academics, civil servants, and school teachers. China has barred a women’s human rights defender from travelling outside even her town in Tibet.
Bahrain confiscated the passport of one activist who, upon her return from a Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, was accused by officials of “false statements” about Bahrain. The United Arab Emirates has held Ahmed Mansoor, a leading human rights defender and blogger and familiar to those in the UN human rights system, incommunicado for nearly this entire year. The government banned him from travelling for years based on his advocacy for democratic reform.
Few governments, apart from Turkey perhaps, can compete with Egypt on this front. I asked Gamal Eid, subject to a travel ban by Egyptian authorities since February of 2016, how it affects his life and work? Eid, one of the leading human rights defenders in the Middle East and the founder of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), has seen his organisation’s website shut down, public libraries he founded (with human rights award money!) forcibly closed, and his bank accounts frozen.
While Eid is recognised internationally for his commitment to human rights, the government accuses him of raising philanthropic funds for ANHRI “to implement a foreign agenda aimed at inciting public opinion against State institutions and promoting allegations in international forums that freedoms are restricted by the country’s legislative system.” He has been separated from his wife and daughter, who fled Egypt in the face of government threats. The ban forced him to close legal offices in Morocco and Tunisia, where he provided defence to journalists, and he lost his green card to work in the United States. He recognises that his situation does not involve the kind of torture or detention that characterises Egypt’s approach to opposition, but the ban has ruined his ability to make a living and to support human rights not just in Egypt but across the Arab world.
Eid is not alone in his country. He estimates that Egypt has placed approximately 500 of its nationals under a travel ban, about sixteen of whom are human rights activists. One of them is the prominent researcher and activist, Hossam Bahgat, founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who faces accusations similar to Eid’s.
Travel bans signal weakness, limited confidence in the power of a government’s arguments, perhaps even a public but quiet concession that, “yes indeed, we repress truth in our country”. While not nearly as painful as the physical weapons of censorship, they undermine global knowledge and debate. They exclude activists and journalists from the kind of training that makes their work more rigorous, accurate, and effective. They also interfere in a direct way with every person’s human right to “leave any country, including one’s own,” unless necessary for reasons such as national security or public order.
All governments that care about human rights should not allow the travel ban to continue to be the silent weapon of censorship – and not just for the sake of Khadija, Zunar, and Gamal, but for those who benefit from their critical voices and work. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mapping Media Freedom” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-times-circle” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Since 24 May 2014, Mapping Media Freedom’s team of correspondents and partners have recorded and verified 3,597 violations against journalists and media outlets.
Index campaigns to protect journalists and media freedom. You can help us by submitting reports to Mapping Media Freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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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