14 Feb 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa
Prominent human rights activist and president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Nabeel Rajab, was reportedly detained today while attempting to reach Pearl Roundabout in the capital Manama. Jihan Kazerooni of BCHR told Index that Rajab is currently being held at Hoora police station. Kazerooni said that two other activists, Naji Fateel of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and Hassan Jaber were also detained by authorities.
14 Feb 12 | Middle East and North Africa
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja was arrested on 9 April 2011. He was dragged from his house and beaten by 20 masked men along with his two sons in law, while his daughters and wife were insulted, assaulted and locked in a room. In may he was given life in prison along with other prominent opposition leaders for “organising and managing a terrorist organisation”, “attempting to overthrow the government by force and in liaison with a terrorist organisation working for a foreign country” and the “collection of money for a terrorist group”. This was not the first time he had been charged with attempting to overthrow the government for talking publicly about human rights abuses in Bahrain. It seems that the government of Bahrain believe their regime to be so weak that even speaking the truth about them risks bringing down the whole system.
Since that time, the BICI report has shown that there is no evidence of any Iranian involvement in the Bahrain uprising. This fact renders the presence of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) troops in Bahrain unlawful, as they are only supposed to be used to defend against foreign invasions, and shows the sentences of the main opposition leaders to be based on purely political charges.
In December 2011, Nigel Rodley, who had been part of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, released a statement saying that the BICI report intended that the sentences of all political prisoners should be annulled. Unfortunately, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, in a recent highly defensive response to a letter I wrote with Denis MacShane MP, has stated that “There is no political prisoner in Bahrain today. Not a single person is awaiting trial for political protest or activity or for exercising her or his right to free speech and assembly.”
Does this man really believe what he is saying? Is he just lying or is he really so blinded (as those at the top of autocratic regimes often are) to the truth.
Abdulhadi Alhkawaja, his brother, son in law and one of his daughters have all been in jail. He has gone on hungerstrike numerous times, hospitalising himself in the process. Now he is on hungerstrike again for the anniversary of the uprising, telling his family in a phone call that he will be willing to die for his freedom. The cruelty displayed by the Bahraini government is astounding, and one of the reasons why they have been listed as one of the 10 most repressive regimes by Reporters Without Borders.
John Lubbock is a graduate in international politics and human rights MA at City University, London and research and advocacy officer for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights in London. He tweets@jwsal
09 Jan 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was severely beaten by security services in Bahrain during a demonstration on Friday. Rajab was beaten on the back, head and neck and was taken by ambulance to Salmaniya hospital after participating in a peaceful protest in Manama. The activist, who is President of The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) told his lawyer that policemen gathered around him and began to beat him. Rajab has been released from hospital following treatment for concussion, back pain and bruises to his back and face.
20 Dec 11 | Middle East and North Africa, Uncategorized
The fifteenth of December marked the start of #OccupyBudaiya. Bahrainis have taken to Budaiya Street in Manama, the capital city, to express discontent with the government’s actions following the reading of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report. For four days, protesters clashed with riot police and security officials. Bahraini activist Asma Darwish, 21, who has been actively protesting since the start of protests in February, told Index that the demonstrations have all been “peaceful.” According to Darwish, when she was at Budaiya Street on 15 December, police began firing tear gas at herself and a few other individuals, including the now detained activist Zainab Al-Khawaja (@angryarabiya) , and journalists Lauren Bohn and Adam Ellick. She said that they were merely “taking photos” outside of a Costa coffee shop known as a meeting point for opposition members, when police opened fire on the café, filling it with tear gas and making it “very difficult to breathe”. On the same day, protester Ali Al-Ghassab was run over during protests, and the Ministry of Interior has denied responsibility for his death. On the same day, Al-Khawaja was also arrested while peacefully protesting.
In honour of Bahrain’s National Day on 16 December, King Hamad delivered a speech, in which he spoke about the BICI report, and emphasised the government’s “commitment to implementing its recommendations”. He also said that the BICI also “generated popular satisfaction.” On the same day, many gathered for the funeral of Al-Ghassab, and to protest on Budaiya Street again. According to an eyewitness account, the protests were “peaceful,” and did not even involve road blocks, which has been a major criticism of opposition tactics in the past. While protesters peacefully gathered, security forces began breaking up the crowds through the use of force — using batons to beat protesters, and firing “tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and bird shotgun pellets” on the crowd. The brutal crackdown on protesters since the start of the latest round of demonstrations has resulted in countless injuries, and many have posted images and videos of clouds of tear gas, injuries, and protests on Twitter. Bahrain is now approaching 10 months of unrest; protests began in February of this year.
Meanwhile, Al-Khawaja, who was scheduled to stand trial today, could face up to two years in prison, according to her lawyer. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is reporting that Al-Khawaja is currently being held in a cell with 40 other women and one shared bathroom, and has also been “verbally harassed” and threatened by officials, who have told her that she would only be able to see her two-year-old daughter once a week. Al-Khawaja is the daughter of prominent activist Abdulhady Al-Khawaja, who was arrested in April and is currently serving a life sentence. In an open letter to the international human rights community, Darwish appealed to organisations to assist in releasing her fellow activist, and condemned the physical assault of Al-Khawaja during her arrest, and said that her ill-treatment in public was “worrisome”. Her arrest, as well as the crackdown on protesters has been met with outrage from the international community, as continued brutality and the arrest of peaceful protesters does not seem to line up with the government’s promises of a renewed future, and many organisations have called for her release, as well as that of other peaceful protesters.
The Bahraini government has called for the fast-tracking of the recommendations of the commission, but hundreds remain in prison for exercising their right to express their political views. One of the commissioners, Sir Nigel Rodley, former UN special rapporteur on torture, told Human Rights Watch that those arrested for peacefully expressed their right to “freedom of expression and assembly,” and called for the government to review convictions, commute the sentences of those merely exercising their “basic political rights,” and that commissioners intended that they be released, and their criminal records be expunged of charges.
