06 Oct 16 | Awards, Bahrain, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, mobile
A Bahraini high criminal court has postponed the sentencing of leading human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, who faces up to 15 years in prison for messages posted on Twitter.
Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, is on trial on multiple charges of “disseminating false rumors in time of war”, “insulting a neighboring country” and “insulting a statutory body” under articles 133, 215 and 216 of the penal code. The charges collectively carry up to 15 years in prison. These are in relation to remarks he tweeted and retweeted on Twitter in 2015 about the humanitarian crisis caused by the Saudi-led war in Yemen – with Saudi Arabia the “insulted” country – and documenting torture in Bahrain’s Jau prison.
In September, Bahrain’s prosecution brought new charges against him for “undermining the prestige of the state” after the New York Times published his opinion piece, Letter from a Bahraini Jail. This charge could carry an additional year.
Back in January 2014, when Stephen Colbert asked Human Rights Watch executive director Ken Roth who the next Nelson Mandela would be, Roth named Nabeel Rajab. This week, Human Rights Watch writes: “Is it right or trite to compare Rajab to Mandela? That’s a matter for debate, but it’s certainly reasonable to compare states’ deification of one activist with their silence over another, and Mandela – a vocal supporter of free expression – would surely have seen the double standard.”
HRW’s Roth hit out again on Twitter yesterday: “He’s Bahrain’s Nelson Mandela but the West doesn’t show anywhere near the same concern for his plight.”
Last month, 22 rights groups wrote to 50 countries urging them to call for Rajab’s release. All 50 states, including the UK, had previously raised concerns over Bahrain’s human rights situation. However, until now only the United States has called for Nabeel Rajab’s release. The EU’s Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis said yesterday on Twitter: “In Bahrain, the EU closely follows tomorrow Nabeel Rajab’s trial. Hope for his release from jail and commencement of national reconciliation efforts.”
Husain Abdulla, Executive Director, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain: “When countries go silent on Nabeel Rajab’s imprisonment because of the Gulf’s strategic importance, that is short-sighted and shameful. The US has talked a good talk on Nabeel: now let’s see them act on it.”
The UK has made no clear statement on Nabeel Rajab, apart from expressing “concern”. In November, Prince Charles will be visiting Bahrain, as well as Oman and the United Arab Emirates, to improve bilateral relations.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “British silence will consign Rajab to this fate. The UK could have intervened, criticised the situation or called for an end to this flagrantly unfair trial on countless occasions, and so far they have failed to step up every single time. This act of repression is not just the fault of Bahrain, but the fault of every ally which enables Bahrain to continue in this way.”
In September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights used his opening statement at the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) to warn Bahrain: “The past decade has demonstrated repeatedly and with punishing clarity exactly how disastrous the outcomes can be when a Government attempts to smash the voices of its people, instead of serving them.” Today’s sentencing is yet another case of the Bahraini government attempting to smash those voices.
Rajab has been held in pre-trial detention since his 13 June 2016 arrest, which coincided with the opening of the June session of the HRC. He was initially held in East Riffa, where police kept him in solitary confinement. After 15 days in solitary – which the UN’s top expert judges may amount to torture – he required urgent medical attention. Rajab was rushed to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital with breathing difficulties, an irregular heartbeat and a weak immune system. He was transferred back to a police station for detention the following day.
Since 2011, Rajab has faced multiple prosecutions and prison sentences for his vocal activism. The state banned him from travel in 2014, preventing him from leaving the country.
More about Nabeel Rajab:
6 Oct: Join us to tell the UK to help free Bahraini Nabeel Rajab
Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab put in isolation ahead of 6 October trial
Rights groups urge 50 nations to call for Nabeel Rajab’s release
03 Oct 16 | Bahrain, Events, mobile, United Kingdom
Nabeel Rajab during a protest in London in September 2014 (Photo: Milana Knezevic)
Join Index on Censorship, English Pen and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy for a vigil outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at 12 pm on Thursday 6 October to mark the trial of Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
The Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award-winning Rajab has been subjected to ongoing judicial harassment by Bahrain’s government.
Your support will show the UK government that it must do more to pressure its ally Bahrain to respect freedom of expression and release Rajab unconditionally.
When: Thursday 6 October at 12pm
Where: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, Whitehall, London SW1A 2AH (Map)
More information about Nabeel Rajab:
Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab put in isolation ahead of 6 October trial
Prince Charles to visit Bahrain: Here are some things he should consider
Who is Nabeel Rajab?
Background
Nabeel Rajab was arrested on 13 June and prosecuted on charges of spreading “false or malicious news, statements, or rumours” during wartime, “offending a foreign country” and “offending a public institution” under articles 133, 215 and 216 of the Penal Code and faces up to 15 years’ imprisonment. His sentencing is due on 6 October 2016. Nabeel has also been banned from travel ban since November 2014.
This is in connection to comments made on Twitter in 2015 documenting allegations of torture at the Central Jau Prison and criticizing the Saudi coalition war in Yemen.
Following the publication a letter by
Nabeel to the New York Times, the Public Prosecution Office
charged him with “intentionally broadcasting false news and malicious rumours abroad impairing the prestige of the state”. The charge could lead to an additional one-year prison sentence.
FCO Policy on Nabeel and Bahrain
The FCO has
expressed “concern” over the re-arrest of
Nabeel but has not called for his release.
The UK’s statements do not reflect the facts on the ground: Bahrain’s human rights situation is worsening. Nabeel‘s charges, all related to his free expression and carrying lengthy prison terms, are a reflection of Bahrain’s failure to reform.
27 Sep 16 | Bahrain, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured
On Sunday 25 September Nabeel Rajab was transferred from the West Riffa Police Station to solitary confinement in the East Riffa Police Station ahead of his sentencing next week.
“It’s been over a hundred days since Nabeel was arrested and charged and am very worried about his well-being. He has been treated harshly and sent back to a place where he suffered complete isolation in facilities not fit for purpose,” Sumaya Rajab, Nabeel’s wife, said.
The last time the 2012 Index on Censorship award-winning Rajab was held in East Riffa, he required urgent medical care after two weeks of isolation in deplorable conditions. The president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights faces up to 15 years in prison on 6 October on three charges related to his posts on social media.
Rajab is currently being held in a filthy cell. He has not been given a reason for his transfer, and when he tried to ask a police officer, he was screamed at and insulted. When his family delivered clothes and toiletries to the station, officers dirtied them with water and soil before giving them to Rajab. The police officers refused the family’s attempt to give Rajab a radio.
Rajab’s continued detention in police stations is extraordinary. Male detainees are normally only held in police custody until formal charges are brought against them; they are then transferred to the Dry Dock Detention Centre for pre-trial detention. Police stations do not have the facilities for long-term detention. Rajab, who was charged a day after his arrest, has requested multiple times for his rightful transfer to Dry Dock, as has his lawyer. These requests have all been denied.
Rajab has been held in pre-trial detention since his 13 June 2016 arrest. He was initially held in East Riffa. After 15 days in solitary confinement – which the UN’s top expert judges may amount to torture – he required urgent medical attention. Rajab was rushed to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital with breathing difficulties, an irregular heartbeat and a weak immune system.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “Nabeel Rajab’s prosecution is part of the Bahraini monarchy’s expansion of authoritarianism and his imprisonment emboldens dictatorship. The US and UK need to step up and criticise this ally, which they have supported with arms and assistance despite the crushing of peaceful critics.”
After being released by the hospital, and police transferred him to the West Riffa police station. His treatment improved at that facility: Rajab was no longer kept strictly in solitude and allowed more regular phone calls.
His family are concerned that his health will decline again and think that this latest transfer suggests a harsh prison sentence will be handed down in October.
Rajab faces multiple charges of “insulting a statutory body”, “insulting a neighboring country”, and “disseminating false rumors in time of war”. These are in relation to remarks he tweeted and retweeted on Twitter in 2015 about torture at Bahrain’s Jau prison and the humanitarian crisis caused by the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Since 2011, Rajab has faced ongoing judicial harassment and prison sentences for his vocal activism. He was placed on a travel ban in 2014 and has been unable to leave the country.
More about Nabeel Rajab:
Who is Nabeel Rajab?
Prince Charles to visit Bahrain: Here are some things he should consider
Bahrain: Prominent rights activist charged for New York Times letter
Index award winners and judges call for release of Bahraini campaigner
21 Sep 16 | Bahrain, Bahrain News, Middle East and North Africa, mobile, News and features
Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab (Photo: The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy)
Prince Charles is to make an official visit to Bahrain in November despite the escalating human rights crackdown in the country. This endorsement comes after Queen Elizabeth sat next to the king of Bahrain at her 90th birthday celebrations this summer.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein expressed grave concerns about the country: “The past decade has demonstrated repeatedly and with punishing clarity exactly how disastrous the outcomes can be when a government attempts to smash the voices of its people, instead of serving them.”
Today, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, told The Times: “The timing of Prince Charles’s visit suggests that the major human rights violations in 2016 are not in the British monarchy’s mind.”
Here are just a few things Index on Censorship would encourage the prince to keep in mind ahead of his trip:
1. The treatment of Nabeel Rajab
Human rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab, who has been arrested multiple times because of his peaceful activism, has been detained since 13 June for comments he made on Twitter. Charges brought against him for his tweets, and even retweets, include spreading “false or malicious news, statements, or rumours”, “offending a foreign country” and “offending a statutory body”.
Rajab was also recently charged with “defaming the state” after a critical op-ed he wrote appeared in The New York Times.
Just last week, the UK government was urged by a group of 50 NGOs to put pressure on Bahrain over Rajab’s treatment. With news of the state-sanctioned Prince Charles visit, it appears these calls have of fallen on deaf ears.
Rajab is expected to be sentenced at his next court hearing on 6 October. He faces more than 15 years in prison.
2. The detention of critics
The Bahraini government has repeatedly used prison as a weapon to silence its critics. Opposition activist Zainab Al-Khawaja was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2014 for “insulting the king” after she ripped up a picture of him. Though she has now been released, her father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, a human rights activist and a member of the Bahrain 13, remains in prison along with over 3,500 other prisoners of conscience.
On 22 June 2011 a military court sentenced all members of the Bahrain 13 to between five years and life in prison, on trumped-up charges of attempting to overthrow the regime, “broadcasting false news and rumours” and “inciting demonstrations”. All but two of them remain behind bars.
Last year, the Liberties and Human Rights Department of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society recorded a total of 1,765 arrests by security services for reasons related to the opposition political movement, including the detention of 120 children and five women.
3. Rendering critics stateless
Another abusive tactic used by the government of Bahrain is to revoke the citizenship of many of its critics. This is illegal under several international agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Regardless, 208 Bahrainis were rendered stateless in 2015 alone.
Since amending its citizenship law in 2014, Bahrain’s judges can strip citizenship from anyone convicted under anti-terrorist laws. However, the law does not properly define “terrorism” and several of those subjected to this fate in 2015 were convicted under vague terms such as “inciting and advocating regime change” to “defaming brotherly countries”.
Most of those rendered stateless have been deported, along with their families.
4. Censoring the internet
Named by Reporters Without Borders as an “enemy of the internet“, Bahrain has been busy clamping down on the web over the last few years. Despite being one of the best-connected countries in the world from a technical perspective, Freedom House gives the country an online freedom rating of 72, with 100 being the worst possible score.
News, human rights and opposition websites are routinely blocked, with estimates putting the total number at over 1,000. Social media users have been arrested and had posts forcibly removed, including those of the satirical account @Takrooz whose only post is now: “They tortured me in prison.”
The government is also working on a new Russian-inspired default search engine that would allow it to filter results without the cooperation of Western-based companies such as Netsweeper, which was exposed by the Associated Press as a facilitator of Bahrain’s censorship program.
