- MPs representing multiple countries took to the stage to speak out about the imprisonment of political prisoners with a focus on the case of Abdul-Hadi Al-Khawaja, dual Bahraini-Danish citizen.
- Oral interventions criticising Bahrain’s human rights record came from MP in delegations hailing from Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Finland and Norway.
- The calls for his release received a fierce response from the spokesperson of the Bahraini delegation, Jamal Fakhro, who justified Al-Khawaja’s ongoing imprisonment and asked the delegates not to interfere in internal affairs. He further denied that Mr Al-Khawaja was tortured and wrongly stated that if he had been tortured, his case would have been overseen by Bahraini oversight bodies, such as the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman and the Special Investigation Unit.
- The inaccuracy and weakness of this statement is belayed by the fact that these oversight bodies were only created in 2012, one year after Mr Al-Khawaja’s alleged torture.
- The allegation of Mr Al-Khawaja’s torture were documented by the government-comissioned Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report (BICI) report in November 2011, on page 438:
- The report documented that Al-Khawaja was subjected to torture and sexually assaulted by security forces in 2011, stating that “Immediately after the arrest, the detainee received a hard blow to the side of his face, which broke his jaw”, “Security personnel in the hospital threatened him with sexual abuse and execution” and threatened his family, and “spent two months in solitary confinement in a small cell measuring approximately 2.5m x 2m” and that “masked guards” beat him “routinely” and sexually assaulted him, amongst other serious violations.
Maryam Al Khawaja commented: “It is vindicating to see the support my father is receiving at the IPU conference from MPs from multiple countries, as he completes 12 years of his life sentence which was deemed arbitrary by the United Nations. He continues to endure dire prison conditions and systematic denial of adequate medical treatment, like so many other Bahraini political prisoners. It is appalling to see the Bahraini delegation spokesperson telling blatant lies about the human rights situation in Bahrain as well as my father’s condition by denying the fact that he was tortured – a fact documented by the regime’s own fact finding commission. His citing of institutions set up a year after my father’s imprisonment, and which have yet to investigate my fathers torture, lays bare Bahrain’s transparent attempt to cover up the truth.”
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) commented: “This turned out to be a PR disaster for the Bahraini regime. By hosting an international conference, they thought they could launder their image on the global stage, and sanitise their human rights record which is steeped in appalling violations and the widespread imprisonment of their citizens who demand democracy. The dictatorship’s decision to revoke the visas of Human Rights Watch researchers, to prevent them from observing this assembly, further exposes that their slogan of “promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies” is nothing but a lie”.
Olive Moore, Interim Director of Front Line Defenders commented: “For Bahrain to host a global conference of parliamentarians working to strengthen the rule of law whilst simultaneously steamrolling over the human rights of its own citizens, is an utter farce. We salute the parliamentarians who spoke out to challenge this irony and call for the release of Abdul-Hadi Al-Khawaja and all human rights defenders arbitrarily imprisoned in Bahrain.”
Niku Jafarnia, Bahrain and Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch commented: “The IPU’s senior leadership, including its president, has remained silent while the hosts of this year’s IPU Assembly, Bahrain’s government, arrest opposition activists, keep rights defenders like Abdulhadi al-Khawaja imprisoned, and even revoke visas from international rights groups like Human Rights Watch. The IPU leadership’s silence has only served to reinforce Bahrain’s whitewashing of human rights abuses, and has made a mockery of their slogan of ‘For democracy. For everyone.’ ”
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Zainab’s Statement:
“Today I start a silent hunger strike in support of Ali Mushaima in his fight for his father, who represents the thousands of political prisoners suffering in Bahraini prisons. Ali is now on his 35th day of hunger strike, he has not eaten for more than a month, and has lived on the street to demand basic prisoner rights for his father. Ali is striking for not only the thousands of political prisoners in Bahrain, but their family members who live every day knowing their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers are living without access to adequate medical treatment in unsanitary, abusive conditions. Ali has lost 14 kilos and was hospitalized.
‘All my pills are either finished or almost finished. Some of these pills I can’t be without even for a day. It is too painful’ Hassan Mushaima told his son Ali. Mushaima, who used to be an English teacher, is now a 70 year old cancer survivor, a torture survivor and political prisoner. He is also one of the most beloved leaders of the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain. He has been in prison for the past seven and a half years for demanding freedom and democracy for the people of Bahrain. Ali has followed in his father’s’ footsteps and is a very well-known activist who has been heroically fighting for the rights of Bahrainis for more than a decade. Three days after that phone call from his father, Ali decided he had to do something to save his father’s life, so he started a hunger strike at the door of the Bahraini embassy in London where he is in exile. Not only has his father not had any family visits for a year and half and had all his books confiscated, he does not even have access to his medication.”
Zainab Al-Khawaja,
4 September 2018
Background Information:
Zainab Al-Khawaja is a Bahraini woman human rights defender, who was imprisoned twelve times for joining the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain. After her last imprisonment with her baby son, she was forced into exile by the Bahraini regime. She is the daughter of Abdul-Hadi Al-Khawaja, Bahrain’s leading human rights defender and EU citizen, who was brutally arrested and tortured in 2011, then sentenced to life imprisonment along with Hassan Mushaima in the case popularly known as the Bahrain 13.
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The campaign group urged the Prince of Wales to cancel his trip, arguing: “By cancelling your visit you will be upholding and representing the freedoms enjoyed in the United Kingdom: freedom of speech, religion, movement, assembly and freedom of the press.”
The Prince of Wales’ visit to Bahrain was announced in September, and came under immediate criticism. As part of his agenda, Prince Charles will be visiting the new Royal Navy base currently being constructed at a cost of £30m by the Bahrain Defence Force, in an arrangement which the Ministry of Defence described to BIRD as a “gift” from Bahrain to the UK. The UK is expected to be contribute around £7.5m towards the base, the cost of which has ballooned in size from the originally announced £15m total figure.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, BIRD: “Bahrain will see Prince Charles’ visit as a green light for their repression and use him to whitewash their terrible record, at a time when the repression is intensifying and the government is eliminating its critics. Prince Charles should take this opportunity to meet the jailed defender Nabeel Rajab, who is fighting for democracy and human rights, not dining with the architects of injustice.”
The visit comes a week after the latest court appearance of Nabeel Rajab, the human rights defender currently facing up to 15 years on 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 in Bahrain’s Jau prison and the humanitarian crisis caused by the Saudi-led war in Yemen. He was also charged in September with “undermining the prestige of the state” after the New York Times published his opinion piece, Letter from a Bahraini Jail. If convicted on this charge, Rajab faces an additional year in prison.
On 31 October, the court ordered Rajab’s case to be reopened for new investigations into his twitter account. The United States has described his trial unjust and called for his release.
Prince Charles’s visit will be followed up by a visit by Prime Minister Theresa May in December. Last month, King Hamad of Bahrain visited Downing Street and, in a meeting marked by protests, invited her to the Gulf Cooperation Council Leaders Summit in December. It will be the first time that the Prime Minister travels to the oil rich and human rights poor Gulf region.
Further Information: A Summer of Repression
Bahrain has come under mounting criticism recently. Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights used his opening statement at the 33rd session of the council 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.”
As well as the prosecution of Nabeel Rajab, over 20 human rights activists were banned from travel in June and August according to BIRD’s data, preventing them from attending two sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and engaging in international events. One human rights defender, Zainab Al-Khawaja, was forced into exile in June after receiving threats of re-arrest and indefinite detention. This came within weeks of her release from prison on charges related to her expression, which was secured through pressure from the United States.
Al Wefaq, the largest political society in the country, was dissolved over the summer and their assets frozen. The society is appealing the decision. In May, a court increased the prison sentence of Al Wefaq’s Secretary General from four years to nine on charges related to his peaceful political activities.
Alongside these events, on 20 June the Ministry of Interior revoked the nationality of Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shia majority. Sheikh Qassim is today the highest ranking Shia cleric in the country, and had been an elected member of the country’s parliament in 1973 (the brief democratic experiment was abolished within two years by the late Emir Isa, King Hamad’s father and predecessor). He is now being prosecuted for “money laundering”. The charge relates to his role in gathering and distributing Khums, a type of religious donation commonly practiced by Shia Muslims.
Since June 2016, the Government of Bahrain has carried out a sustained campaign against the country’s civil and political society and the country’s Shia community. According to BIRD’s documentation, over 60 clerics have been subject to questioning and prosecution for their sermons and participation in protests, with three sentenced in the past month. Since 20 June, police have subjected Sheikh Qassim’s hometown of Duraz to a physical blockade and nightly internet blackouts, collectively punishing the village’s 20,000 residents.
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14 October 2016 – Campaigners are calling on Prince Charles to cancel his upcoming visit to Bahrain in light of the country’s deteriorating situation, as a leading activist faces 15 years in prison on Monday 31 October.
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will visit Bahrain for three days, between 9-11 November. The purpose of the visit is to “promote the U.K.’s partnership in key areas such as religious tolerance, military cooperation, supporting women in leadership, creating youth opportunities, preserving cultural heritage and wildlife conservation.” Human rights are noticeably absent from the agenda, and they will spend a whole day in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, with no public engagements.
The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) say that “given the recent intensification of human rights violations by the Government of Bahrain”, a royal visit now to promote commerce and arms trade will “enable those continuing violations.”
The campaign group have written a letter to the Prince of Wales urging him to cancel his trip, arguing, arguing: “By cancelling your visit you will be upholding and representing the freedoms enjoyed in the United Kingdom: freedom of speech, religion, movement, assembly and freedom of the press.”
The Prince of Wales’ visit to Bahrain was announced in September, and came under immediate criticism.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, BIRD: “Prince Charles should reconsider his visit to Bahrain at a time when the repression is intensifying and the government is eliminating its critics. By the end of this week, leading campaigner Nabeel Rajab might be sentenced to 15 years in prison just for speaking his mind. The Prince’s visit now will be seen by Bahrain’s royals as a green light for this repression.”
The letter comes ahead of Nabeel Rajab’s 31 October trial date, when the human rights defender is expected to be sentenced up to 15 years in prison.
Rajab, who is currently being held in solitary confinement ahead of his court date, 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 in Bahrain’s Jau prison and the humanitarian crisis caused by the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
He was also charged in September with “undermining the prestige of the state” after the New York Times published his opinion piece, Letter from a Bahraini Jail. If convicted on this charge, Rajab faces an additional year in prison.
Further Information: A Summer of Repression
Bahrain has come under mounting criticism recently. Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights used his opening statement at the 33rd session of the council 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.”
Since June 2016, the Government of Bahrain has carried out a sustained campaign against the country’s civil and political society and the country’s Shia community.
As well as the prosecution of Nabeel Rajab, over 20 human rights activists have been banned from travel in June and August according to BIRD’s data, preventing them from attending two sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and engaging in international events. One human rights defender, Zainab Al-Khawaja, was forced into exile in June after receiving threats of re-arrest and indefinite detention. This came within weeks of her release from prison on charges related to her expression, which was secured through pressure from the United States.
Al Wefaq, the largest political society in the country, was dissolved over the summer and their assets frozen. The society is appealing the decision. In May, a court increased the prison sentence of Al Wefaq’s Secretary General from four years to nine on charges related to his peaceful political activities.
Alongside these events, on 20 June the Ministry of Interior revoked the nationality of Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shia majority. Sheikh Qassim is today the highest ranking Shia cleric in the country, and had been an elected member of the country’s parliament in 1973 (the brief democratic experiment was abolished within two years by the late Emir Isa, King Hamad’s father and predecessor). He is now being prosecuted for “money laundering”. The charge relates to his role in gathering and distributing Khums, a type of religious donation commonly practiced by Shia Muslims.
According to BIRD’s documentation, over 60 clerics have been subject to questioning and prosecution for their sermons and participation in protests, with three sentenced in the past month. Since 20 June, police have subjected Sheikh Qassim’s hometown of Duraz to a physical blockade and nightly internet blackouts, collectively punishing the village’s 20,000 residents.
]]>These attacks on Bahrain’s civil society are unprecedented in scope and scale and have not been seen since the March-June 2011 period of martial law. The Government of Bahrain is purposely closing the door on political and human rights reform by silencing its critics and imprisoning the leading politicians and human rights defenders. We, the undersigned, unequivocally condemn the repression of civil society.
Death Penalty
There are currently 10 individuals on death row in Bahrain. Eight are considered prisoners of conscience, and two have exhausted all legal appeals. In the current context of civil society repression, the risk of death row inmates being executed has increased.
On 31 May 2016, an appeals court in Bahrain upheld the death sentences of three individuals – Sami Mushaima, Abbas Al-Samea, and Ali Abdulshaheed Al-Singace – and the life sentences of six others. It upheld the stripping of citizenship of eight of them. The death sentences continue to be upheld despite documented coercion, torture and ill-treatment against the defendants.
The defendants were arrested over two years ago, on 3 March 2014, by security forces in house raids, on charges of allegedly using improvised explosive devices which led to the killing of three police officers, one of them an Emirati citizen. On 26 February 2015, the High Criminal Court convicted them of all charges and issued their sentences. All defendants denied the charges against them, and pleaded innocent.
According to reports, security forces subjected the detainees to more than a week of enforced disappearance, during which they were allegedly tortured. Sami Mushaima, who is one of three individuals sentenced to death for his alleged planning of the bombing, has claimed that the security forces tortured him to force his confessions by beating him in his genital area, and keeping him handcuffed at all times, even in his prison cell. They also forced him to stand for hours and limited his access to a toilet. Abbas al-Samea also alleged he was subjected to various forms of torture, including electric shocks, sleep deprivation and sexual assault. Other defendants in the case have reported being subjected to the same forms of torture.
Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society
Nabeel Rajab
On 13 June 2016, Bahraini authorities arrested President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab at his home in Bani Jamra. The prosecution charged him with “spreading false news.” He was kept in solitary confinement for 15 days – an act which may amount to torture – and was urgently transferred to the Bahrain Defence Force Hospital after developing heart problems in detention. His family states these health issues are unprecedented for Rajab.
This recent round of reprisals against Nabeel Rajab dates back to 2014. After spending two years in prison between 2012 and 2014, Rajab took an advocacy tour, visiting the European Parliament, several European capitals, and participating in the September 2014 UN Human Rights Council session. Upon his return to Bahrain in October 2014, police arrested him at the airport and charged him with “insulting statutory institutions.” Rajab received a travel ban in November 2014, and in January 2015 a criminal court sentenced him to six months in prison.
Rajab posted bail and remained out of detention until his re-arrest on 2 April 2015. The prosecution charged him with “spreading rumours in war time” and “insulting a statutory body”. The charges were used to hold Rajab for an extended detention period, but were never tried in court. In July 2015, Rajab received a pardon clearing him of the charges lobbied against him in January 2015, however those issued in April and his travel ban remain in place. The threat of re-arrest stifled his ability to work.
On 26 June 2016, Rajab’s lawyers received notification that he is scheduled to appear in court on 12 July 2016 in connection with the charges issued in April. The more recent charge of “spreading false news” continues to be investigated. Rajab was held first at the East Riffa Police Station and was recently transferred to the West Riffa Police Station. His detention conditions have been poor, and his health has deteriorated as a result.
Further information can be found here.
Zainab Al-Khawaja
Human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja was forced into exile on 7 June 2016, after the Danish Consulate in Bahrain informed her of threats they had received from a high-level government official that she would be re-arrested and held indefinitely if she remained in the country. Al-Khawaja and her family have fled to Denmark.
Zainab Al-Khawaja and her infant son were released from prison a week earlier after serving two months of her 37-month sentence. Al-Khawaja was sentenced to a total of three years and one month in prison and a fine of 3,000 BHD on several charges related to her exercise of freedom of expression and her peaceful dissent against the Bahraini government. On 2 February 2016, the court of appeal upheld a 9-month prison sentence against Zainab for trying to visit her father, human rights defender Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, in Jau Prison when he was on a hunger strike in August 2014. In December 2015, the court amended a prison sentence against Al-Khawaja to one year and four months instead of three years and three months on charges related to tearing up a picture of the king and allegedly insulting a public officer during a peaceful protest in Bahrain. In October 2015, the court reduced her sentence to one year in prison instead of three years over the same charge of insulting the king.
In an open letter Al-Khawaja wrote and smuggled out of prison, she wrote “My cause is the cause of my people. If nothing changes for the people of Bahrain, then my staying in jail or release is not of great consequence.”
Travel Bans
Three human rights defenders and the parents of an extra-judicially killed protester were denied travel to Switzerland on 12 June 2016, in violation of their right to free movement as protected under article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The activists were travelling to participate in the 32nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council. The government had placed the activists on travel ban only days earlier.
Two of the human rights defenders, Ebtisam Al-Saegh and Hussain Radhi, were participants in UN human rights workshops recently held in Bahrain. Another activist, Dr Taha Al-Durazi, was barred from travelling to the United Kingdom on 10 June.
On 29 June, journalist Nazeeha Saeed was banned from boarding a flight, without reasons presented. According to Saeed, the Ministry of Interior, Public Prosecution and Immigration Offices all confirmed that she had no travel ban, but she was turned away again when trying to cross the Bahrain-Saudi Arabia causeway.
The Government of Bahrain frequently employs two types of travel bans. The first travel ban type is imposed during the criminal investigation procedure. This type of travel ban was placed on Nabeel Rajab in November 2014, during his investigation on charges of ‘insulting statutory bodies’, for which he received 6 months. The ban was never listed.
The second type, seen regularly in the past month, is the secret travel ban. These can only be discovered by the traveller when attempting to exit the country. As in Nazeeha Saeed’s case, government authorities sometimes deny that the person is banned from travel if asked, despite the reality of being denied movement.
Political Societies
Sheikh Ali Salman
On 30 May 2016, an appeals court increased the prison sentence of Sheikh Ali Salman, the General Secretary of the Al Wefaq political society, from four years to nine. The appeal was launched by the Public Prosecution, challenging the criminal court’s decision to acquit Sheikh Ali Salman on charges of ‘attempted overthrow of the regime.’ Sheikh Ali Salman was initially sentenced on the lesser charges of inciting hatred in June 2015.
The increased sentence is the latest reprisal against the leader of the country’s largest opposition society. In January 2015, Human Rights Watch reviewed Sheikh Ali Salman’s speeches and found there was no basis for the severe charges. The government’s prosecution of Sheikh Salman violates his right to the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. The case underscores the authorities’ repeated efforts to conflate peaceful criticism with a threat to national security, and thereby justify the use of harsh punishments for opposition activists.
On 28 December 2014, Bahraini security forces arrested Sheikh Ali Salman – just two days after his re-election as the society’s Secretary General – when he delivered a speech calling for reform of the country’s political system.
Six months later, on 16 June 2015, the Criminal Court sentenced Sheikh Ali Salman to four years in prison for “publicly inciting hatred, inciting civil disobedience of the law, and insulting public institutions” in his speeches and acquitted him of “attempting to overthrow the regime”. Although the main evidence on which the court based the conviction was Sheikh Ali Salman’s speeches, the judge refused the defense team’s request to present supporting evidence, including the recordings of the very speeches for which he was being prosecuted.
In September 2015, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) declared that Sheikh Ali Salman had been arbitrarily detained by the Government of Bahrain. The decision, which cites both free expression and due process concerns, requests that the Bahraini government release Sheikh Salman immediately, and provide him with an enforceable right to compensation against the government.
Al Wefaq’s Dissolution
On 14 June 2016, the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs shut down Al Wefaq, the largest political society in the country and the leading opposition group. Following the ministry’s request, a court ordered the expedited closure of Al Wefaq, the freezing of their assets, and the suspension of all activities. The court also placed Al Wefaq’s headquarters under the control of the Justice Ministry.
The Bahraini government rationalized its decision by asserting that al-Wefaq supported a sectarian political platform that countered national unity, owed allegiance to “foreign religious and political” entities, supported terrorism and extremism that threaten the state, and called for foreign intervention. The court arrived at its decision without allowing al-Wefaq’s attorneys to present their defence.
The Government is now in the process of fully dissolving the political society through expedited court proceedings. An initial September court date was moved forward to 28 June, with a second court hearing on 4 July. Al Wefaq’s lawyers state they have not been granted adequate time to prepare and withdrew from the legal proceedings in protest.
Read more here.
Stripping of Citizenship
Sheikh Isa Qassim
On 20 June, the Ministry of Interior stripped Sheikh Isa Qassim of his citizenship. The religious cleric, who has the rank of Ayatollah, is the spiritual leader of the majority Shia citizen population of the country. A statement from the Ministry of Interior said, “he exploited the religious pulpit for political purposes” and aimed to incite violence.
Sheikh Isa is not only a highly regarded cleric, he has also been a vocal critic of the Government of Bahrain. He was an integral opposition figure during the 2011 protests. The cleric has also long served as a leader in the subsequent pro-democracy movement.
Other Cases
Between 30 May and 30 June, the government has issued nine separate denaturalization orders, leading to 61 individuals stripped of citizenship, including that of Sheikh Isa Qassim, above. The majority are likely to have been rendered stateless.
Of these nine cases, six were related to protests and tried in court under counter-terrorism laws. Due to the excessive powers granted to them under the terrorism laws and a systematic reliance on coerced confessions, Bahraini courts regularly violate due process and fair trial procedures.
In one incident, a Royal Decree signed by the King of Bahrain stripped the citizenship of three officers in the Bahrain Defence Force. Additionally, a court stripped 13 persons affiliated with the terrorist group ISIS of citizenship under the counter terrorism law.
Recommendations
We, the undersigned, therefore call on the Government of Bahrain to:
- Immediately release Nabeel Rajab from detention, drop all charges and lift his travel ban.
- Commute all sentences against Zainab Al-Khawaja.
- Lift travel bans from all activists.
- Commute the sentence of Sheikh Ali Salman, free him, and release all prisoners of conscience,
- Reverse the dissolution of Al Wefaq and allow all political societies to exercise their freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.
- Reinstate the citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qassim.
- Reinstate the citizenship of all persons unfairly stripped of citizenship, especially those made stateless.
Signed:
- Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy
- Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
- European Center for Democracy and Human Rights
- Justice Human Rights Organization
13 June 2016 – Bahrain security forces arrested leading human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Founding Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and Deputy Secretary General of FIDH, early this morning. The arrest comes on the first day of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)’s 32nd Session. We, the undersigned NGOs, condemn the arrest of Nabeel Rajab and stress that all human rights defenders must have the freedom to operate in their country.
At approximately 5:00 AM (GMT+3) in Bahrain, police, led by the Cybercrime Unit, surrounded Rajab’s home in Bani Jamra, in the north west of Bahrain. At 6:12 AM, Rajab’s son Adam tweeted: “Police entered the house and arrested my father Nabeel Rajab.” The authorities’ reason of arrest is not yet known, and it is unknown if new charges have been brought against him. In 2015, police brought two charges against Rajab, together carrying up to thirteen years prison term, both in relation to statements he made on twitter. Rajab was not prosecuted on these charges, nor were they dropped. It is possible that he has been arrested on these old charges.
The arrest comes on the first day of the UNHRC’s 32nd Session. In his opening comments, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights criticised recent rights violations in Bahrain and warned: “Repression will not eliminate people’s grievances; it will increase them.“
Last week, under extensive pressure from the government, human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja, left Bahrain to begin her effective exile in Denmark. She left Bahrain after the Danish consulate in Bahrain communicated to her threats from a government official that she would be re-arrested and detained indefinitely if she remained. Zainab Al-Khawaja is the daughter of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, co-founder of BCHR and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and a torture survivor who has been serving a life sentence since 2011, when he was tried by a military court on alleged “attempted overthrow of the regime.” Zainab Al-Khawaja, who began serving a 37-month prison term in March 2016, was released from prison on “humanitarian grounds” on 31 May, a day after political opposition leader Ali Salman had his sentence increased to 9 years in prison.
The arrest of Nabeel Rajab and exiling of Zainab Al-Khawaja marks an effective silencing of Bahrain’s human rights defenders. Yesterday, in a clear act of reprisal, Bahrain prevented six human rights activists, from boarding their flights to Geneva to participate in the 32nd session of the UNHRC. These activists were informed at the airport that a travel ban was now imposed on them. We condemn in the strongest terms the government of Bahrain’s silencing of civil society and restrictions on their freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement, which sends signals that human rights violations will continue systematically.
Rajab has been prosecuted multiple times since the 2011 Arab Spring. Rajab was arrested repeatedly in 2012, and served two years in prison between 2012 and 2014 on charges of organising unauthorised protests. Following his release in 2014, Rajab conducted an advocacy tour of Europe. In September of that year he visited the UNHRC in Geneva, the European Parliament in Brussels, and European capitals. On his return to Bahrain in October 2014 following his participation in the 27th Session of the UNHRC, police arrested Rajab and charged him with insulting the army in a tweet. He received a six-month sentence and a travel ban. He was released on bail during the appeal of the sentence.
In April 2015, police detained Rajab and charged him with insulting the Central Jau Prison administration and undermining the war in Yemen, after he spoke out against widespread torture occurring in prison and criticised the humanitarian costs of the war. Rajab was held in police custody until June 2015, when he received a royal pardon during Ramadan for his six-month sentence. However, his travel ban remained in place, and his charges were not dropped. The threat of prosecution on these charges has significantly hampered Rajab’s ability to work.
The first charge of allegedly “insulting a statutory body” comes under article 216 of Bahrain’s Penal Code, based on his social media comments about allegations of severe and systematic ill-treatment and torture of detainees in Jau Prison in March 2015. The second charge accuses him of “disseminating false rumours in times of war,” under article 133 of the Penal Code, based on social media posts criticising Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen. Violations of articles 133 and 216 carry maximum sentences of 10 and three years in prison, respectively. Neither of the alleged acts upon which these charges are based were in any way recognisable criminal offences under international human rights law, and both involved the peaceful exercise of internationally protected rights to freedom of expression and to promote and protect human rights.
Rajab’s repeated arrests contravene his rights to freedom of expression and association, as protected by articles 19 and 22 of the International Protocol on Civil and Political Rights, which Bahrain acceded to in 2006.
We, the undersigned, call on the government of Bahrain to:
- Immediately release Nabeel Rajab from police custody, drop all outstanding charges and lift his travel ban.
- Allow all human rights defenders, including Zainab Al-Khawaja, Nabeel Rajab and Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, to live and work in their country without unjust restrictions on their rights to free assembly, association, expression and movement.
- Release all prisoners of conscience and political prisoners.
- Invite, and allow entrance to Bahrain, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.
- Repeal all legal restrictions on civil society.
We call on the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to:
- Condemn Bahrain’s violation of the freedom of movement of its civil society, who were prevented from travelling to the UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva this week.
- Cease all ongoing technical cooperation programs with Bahrain until such time as proper protection for civil society participants can be effectively guaranteed.
We call on members states of the UN Human Rights Council to:
- Raise concerns of Bahrain’s violations of the rights of civil society in your individual Item 4 statements.
- Continue technical cooperation with the government of Bahrain only when substantive conditions are met.
We call on the United Kingdom and United States to:
- Immediately call for the unconditional release of Nabeel Rajab and an end to restrictions on civil society.
- Suspend technical assistance programs until legal restrictions on civil society are repealed.
- Suspend all arms sales to Bahrain.
Signed,
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
Justice Human Rights Organisation (JHRO)
]]>31 May 2016 – Bahrain released human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja from prison today. The release comes nearly two months after the Government of Bahrain promised her freedom, in a week full of negative human rights violations. Ms Al-Khawaja’s charges still stand, and there is a threat that she will be returned to prison.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD: “Let’s be clear that Bahrain is releasing Zainab Al-Khawaja as a PR stunt. She should never have been in prison to begin with, and in the last twenty-four hours, Bahraini courts increased an opposition leader’s prison term from four year to nine, rendered over twenty people stateless and upheld the death sentences of torture victims.”
Police arrested Ms Al-Khawaja in March this year to begin serving a 37-month prison term over several charges related to her exercise of freedom of expression and her peaceful dissent against the Bahraini government.
In an open letter Ms Al-Khawaja wrote and smuggled out of prison, she wrote “My cause is the cause of my people. If nothing changes for the people of Bahrain, then my staying in jail or release is not of great consequence.”
Her release comes a day after an appeals court increased the sentence of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman from four to nine years in prison. The appeals court found him guilty of “attempting to overthrow the regime”, a charge he was acquitted of last year. Today, in another high-profile political case, former leader of the secular Wa’ad political society Ebrahim Sharif appeared in court to appeal his 1-year sentence on charges related to his free speech. His case was postponed.
Zainab Al-Khawaja’s release also comes hours after an appeals court upheld the death sentence. BIRD documented allegations of torture surrounding the original criminal trial in 2015. The past two days also saw 23 individuals stripped of their citizenship, twelve yesterday and eleven today. They are likely to have been rendered stateless.
Yesterday, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond met King Hamad in Bahrain. In a statement, he welcomed Bahrain’s “commitment to continued reforms.”
]]>11 May 2016 – Six international and local NGOs wrote to the Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs expressing concern over the King of Bahrain’s state visit to Switzerland later this week. King Hamad is expected to arrive in Bern on Thursday 12 May, in what will be the first state visit to Switzerland in Bahrain’s history. The NGOs strongly urged that human rights be a key issue raised in meetings between the King and the Swiss Federal Council.
The NGOs urged Minister for Foreign Affairs Didier Burkhalter to call for the release of human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja and the pardoning of torture victims on death row in his meetings with the King, and for the reinstatement of the recently-lifted arms ban to the country.
Zainab Al-Khawaja was arrested in March to begin serving a 37-month prison sentence, following her prosecution on speech-related charges, including two charges related to her tearing an image of the King of Bahrain. Despite a promise on 9 April from the Bahraini foreign minister that she would soon be release, Al-Khawaja remains in prison.
Enclosed with the letter is a message from Al-Khawaja, smuggled from prison. She writes: “I think of all those western governments between us and our freedom; those governments who see us suffer for democracy and still support dictatorships in our countries. I remember another line I underlined in my book ‘She preaches one thing while deceitfully practising another’.”
The NGOs’ letter also called attention the plight of death row inmates Mohammad Ramadan and Husain Moosa. Both allege torture, and Ramadan in particular alleges that police officers told him they knew he hadn’t committed the crime for which he was sentenced, but that he deserved his punishment regardless. The two men have exhausted all legal appeals, and can only be spared by royal pardon.
The NGOs expressed regret over the Swiss government’s recent decision to authorise arms sales valued at 185 million francs to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE after a year-long arms suspension first instated at the onset of Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. They urged that a ban be reinstated on Bahrain, until it has fully implemented human rights reforms.
Switzerland has led five joint-statements on Bahrain at the UN Human Rights Council, most recently in September 2015. These statements have drawn attention to ongoing human rights violations in the country and called for further substantive reforms.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, BIRD: “The Swiss have had a strong and credible position on human rights in Bahrain for many years, but this state visit and renewed arms sales threaten to undermine the integrity of their previous work. We will be extremely disappointed if human rights do not take a central focus in their meetings with King Hamad, including a clear call for the release of Bahrain’s prisoners of conscience.”
]]>The letter comes ahead of the Bahrain races this weekend, which will be held amid renewed activist movements and planned protests in the country. There have been protests recorded over the past two weeks calling for democracy and carrying anti-F1 slogans.
The letter further calls for an independent investigation into these failings that have led to at least one death during the 2012 race in Bahrain and dozens of arrests since then that have led to torture. No one was ever held to account for Salah Abbas’s 2012 killing, nor for any act of force and torture.
Human rights abuses are worsening in the country especially in the last 2 weeks as police renew crackdown ahead of race. In summary
- 57 arbitrary arrests took place in the two weeks preceding the race.
- On 14 March, human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja and her 15-month-old son were arrested to serve a succession of prison sentences. Al-Khawaja was sentenced to three years and one month in prison on a litany of charges related to her freedom of speech.
- Over 3500 political prisoners are in jail, a number that increases year by year. Mostly charged with participating in protests and free expression which the government equates with “terrorism”.
- Reports of torture continue.
- Over 260 people have been arbitrarily stripped of their nationality and some have been forcibly deported.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD): “In the past five years, severe human rights violations have been committed during the race authorised by the FIA. These include arbitrary arrests, torture and killings. Until now, the FIA have shirked responsibility and failed to use their leverage. We want to remind them of their responsibilities, which means being prepared to cancel the race if necessary to prevent serious rights abuses.”
Background
In correspondence between Jean Todt and BIRD in 2014, the president of the FIA told the NGO that he associated himself “fully” with the decision to go ahead with the 2012 race, as well as the 2013 and 2014 races. At the time, he stated that the sport “can and must be an instrument for development and reconciliation” but failed to suggest any practical measures to achieve these notions.
Since 2011, Bahrain has continued to target peaceful dissenters. The Government of Bahrain has employed torture and arbitrary detention on a systemic scale. NGOs including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and BIRD find that these problems have persisted throughout 2015 and into 2016. Such human rights violations are notably heightened during the Bahrain Formula One season as authorities’ attempt to stamp out all forms of opposition around the race. In 2011, the race was cancelled amid widespread protests and severe human rights violations.
Large demonstrations opposed the race when it returned in 2012 and authorities responded with an excessive security clampdown against peaceful protesters. Security checkpoints were set up throughout the country, villages were cordoned off and in many cases enclosed using barbed wire.
On the eve of the race, Salah Abbas, a father of five, was found murdered with brutal signs of physical torture all over his body. His corpse was found dumped on a building rooftop. No member of the security forces has ever been held accountable for his death, nor have the FIA conducted an investigation into the circumstances of his death in relation to the race.
The next year, in 2013, the human rights situation showed no signs of improving as Bahrain’s security forces arrested and imprisoned dozens of individuals for protesting during the race. Rihanna Al-Mousawi was imprisoned after protesting during the race. She alleges that police subjected her to various types of torture and degrading treatment during detention. During her pre-trial detention, she was stripped of her clothes twice and threatened with rape. She remains in prison serving a 5-year sentence.
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14 March 2016 – Bahraini security forces today raided the house of human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja and arrested her with her 15 months old son. The undersigned NGOs condemn in the strongest terms the arrest of Zainab and her son over charges merely related to her activism and exercise of free expression.
On 14 March 2016, at 3:45 P.M., security forces raided the house of Zainab al-Khawaja’s in-laws’ house asking for her. When they did not find her, they raided Zainab’s apartment where she was arrested with her 15 months old son, Abdulhadi. She was then taken to Al-Hoora police station. Her family were informed that she will be transferred for a medical checkup before transporting her to Isa Town women’s prison.
Zainab was sentenced to a total of three years and one months in prison and BHD 3,000 fine over several charges related to her exercise of freedom of expression and her peaceful dissent against the Bahraini government. On 2 February 2016, the court of appeal upheld a 9 months prison sentence against Zainab for trying to visit her father, human rights defender Abdulhadi al-Khawaja in Jau Prison when he was on hunger strike in August 2014. In December 2015, the court amended a prison sentence against Zainab to one year and four months instead of three years and three months on charges related to tearing up a picture of the King and allegedly insulting a public officer during a peaceful protest in Bahrain. In October 2015, the court reduced her sentence to one year in prison instead of three years over the same charge of insulting the Kings.
Zainab AlKhawaja has been previously detained several times since 2011 for various periods, and has had over 13 cases brought against her at Bahrain courts. At one time she spent over 12 months in prison between February 2013 to February 2014 serving multiple sentences on different charges related to her human rights work and exercise of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. She has previously suffered from ill-treatment and poor prison conditions during her previous detention.
Zainab was determined to exercise her right to free expression, she tweeted: “Ripping his picture is a first step to let him know that we are not afraid, that we are determined to gain our rights, to live as free ppl Bahrain.” Bahraini authorities targeting and prosecution of human rights activists is a part of a wider crackdown against whoever exercises their freedom of expression in Bahrain, including journalists, bloggers, social media activists, and opposition figures. Bahrain has failed to uphold its international commitments and continues to violates its people’s fundamental rights.
Zainab’s family believe the arrest was timed as a retaliatory act against her sister, Maryam Al-Khawaja, Co-Director of the Gulf Center 4 Human Rights and former Acting President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Maryam Al-Khawaja recently attended the 31st Session of the UN Human Rights Council, and in February attended the FIFA presidential elections in Zurich, Switzerland, which saw the Bahraini candidate Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa lose, in part due to human rights allegations related to the February 2011 “Arab Spring” events.
We, the undersigned, therefore call on the Government of Bahrain to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Zainab al-Khawaja and her son;
- Immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Zainab related to freedom of expression; and
- End the systematic targeting of individuals for exercising their right to peaceful freedom of expression.
Signed:
- Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
- Bahrain Center for Human Rights
- Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy
- Justice Human Rights Organization
- European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights