The resolution, which passed by 689 votes to 11 with 45 abstentions, represents the first major intervention by the European Parliament on human rights in Bahrain since a similar resolution was adopted in June 2018. The vote followed the signing of an agreement between EU High Representative Josep Borrell and Bahrain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani last month aimed at promoting cooperation in “areas such as trade, research and innovation, clean energy and renewables.”
The resolution was debated during an EU plenary session earlier today, during which MEPs raised concerns about the human rights situation in Bahrain and urged the EU to take a strong stance on the issue. In her response, Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen asserted that the EU had raised a number of human rights concerns, including the cases of several prominent political prisoners. She also highlighted the EU’s plan to help Bahrain “build a more inclusive society” by “sharing EU expertise and best practices with authorities in Manama.”
Key elements highlighted by the resolution include:
Read the full text of the resolution here.
Yéelen Geairon, commenting on behalf of the European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR), commented: “After months of cooperation preparation, it is gratifying to see the adoption of this important resolution on human rights in Bahrain. This represents an invaluable step towards not only securing the release of political prisoners but also encouraging political reform in the kingdom. This joint-action is an important symbol of solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Bahrain”
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), commented: “While we welcome the adoption of this timely resolution, the EU must realise that providing technical support to Bahrain in the absence of concrete reform measures will only provide Bahrain with a convenient cover-up for their continued abuse of their citizens. Nine years of British technical support has failed dismally to improve the human rights situation in Bahrain; the EU must avoid falling into the same trap by ensuring any advancement of EU-Bahraini relations must be conditional on the release of Bahraini political prisoners.”
Husain Abdulla, Executive Director of Americans or Democracy and Human Rights (ADHRB), commented: “Given the recent cooperation agreement signed last month between the EU and Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, this resolution should ensure that human rights concerns are not neglected in any future EU-Bahrain relationship. Human rights are a core feature of European democracy and MEPs must ensure our values are not compromised when dealing with abusive states.”
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9 June 2020 – Nabeel Rajab, Bahrain’s most prominent human rights defender and president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, has been released from Jau Prison today under alternative sentencing legislation after serving almost four years on two convictions for criticising Bahrain’s government on social media and in television interviews.
The decision to release Nabeel was announced unexpectedly by his lawyer and family members just days before the fourth anniversary of his imprisonment on 13 June 2016. Following his arrest, Rajab was convicted to seven years imprisonment in two separate trials, both of which violated Rajab’s right to freedom of expression and opinion. Nabeel was due to be released in 2023.
Nabeel’s trial and conviction were met with international outrage, with the United Nations, politicians and human rights NGOs condemning the verdict as a brazen attack on freedom of expression. In August 2018, 127 rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, echoed the call for Nabeel’s immediate release and compensation after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention once again declared his imprisonment to be not only arbitrary, but also discriminatory.
Nabeel was sentenced to five years imprisonment on 21 February 2018 for posts on Twitter exposing the use of torture in Bahraini prisons and condemning the Bahraini government’s participation in the Saudi-led war on Yemen. His conviction on charges of “spreading rumours in wartime” and “insulting a neighbouring country”, was an early example of the Bahraini government’s ongoing efforts to police citizens’ use of social media and crack down on voices critical of the government. Although he appealed the verdict, his final appeal was rejected on 31 December 2018.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at BIRD, commented: “Nabeel Rajab’s release just days before the fourth anniversary of his arrest is long overdue, marking the first high-profile release since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. However, Nabeel should not have spent a second in prison, his only ‘crime’ being criticism of Bahrain’s government on Twitter.”
Husain Abdulla, Executive Director at Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), commented: “Bahrain’s prisons remain crowded with peaceful human rights defenders and opposition leaders, whose lives are threatened by the government’s inadequate response to COVID-19. Nabeel Rajab’s release must be extended to all political leaders and opposition activists who remain unjustly incarcerated in Bahrain, many of whom are eldery and suffer chronic preexisting health conditions putting them at great risk from COVID-19.”
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On March 17, 2020, Bahrain completed the release of 1,486 prisoners, 901 of whom received royal pardons on “humanitarian grounds.” The remaining 585 were given non-custodial sentences. While this is a positive step, the releases so far have excluded opposition leaders, activists, journalists and human rights defenders – many of whom are older and/or suffer from underlying medical conditions. Such prisoners are at high risk of serious illness if they contract COVID-19, and thus ought to be prioritized for release.
“Bahrain’s significant release of prisoners is certainly a welcome relief as concerns around the spread of COVID-19 continue to rise. Authorities must now speedily release those who never should have been in jail in the first place, namely all prisoners of conscience who remain detained solely for exercising their right to peaceful expression”, said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Director of Research. “We also urge the authorities to step up measures to ensure full respect for the human rights of all those deprived of their liberty.”
Opposition leaders imprisoned for their roles in the 2011 protest movement remain behind bars. These include Hassan Mushaima, the head of the unlicensed opposition group Al-Haq; Abdulwahab Hussain, an opposition leader; Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, a prominent human rights defender; and Dr Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, the spokesman for Al-Haq.;
Other prominent opposition figures, including Sheikh Ali Salman, secretary general of the dissolved Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society (Al-Wefaq), also remain imprisoned. Sayed Nizar Alwadaei, who was deemed arbitrarily detained by the United Nations in “reprisal” for the activism of his brother-in-law, the exiled activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei; and human rights defenders Nabeel Rajab and Naji Fateel, have not been released either. Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience who should be released immediately and unconditionally.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights has documented that a total of 394 detainees of the 1,486 released were imprisoned on political charges. According to Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, another Bahraini nongovernmental group, 57 of the 901 prisoners who received a royal pardon were imprisoned for their political activities, while the rest were given non-custodial sentences. Since the Bahraini government has not made available any information on the charges for which those ordered released had been convicted the exact figures cannot be verified. However, it is clear that people imprisoned for nonviolent political activity are in the minority of those released.
Scores of prisoners convicted following unfair trials under Bahrain’s overly broad counter-terrorism law have been overlooked and denied early release or alternative penalties, even though other inmates serving considerably longer sentences were freed. This includes Zakiya Al Barboori and Ali Al Hajee, according to the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.
Conditions in Bahrain’s overcrowded prisons compound the risk of COVID-19 spreading. The lack of adequate sanitation led to a scabies outbreak in Jau Prison – Bahrain’s largest prison – and Dry Dock Detention Center in December 2019 and January 2020. Almost half of the Dry Dock Detention Center’s prison population was infected. In 2016 a governmental Prisoners and Detainees Rights Commission found buildings at Jau Prison to suffer from “bad hygiene,” “insect infestation” and “broken toilets.”
Furthermore, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations have expressed their concern over the authorities’ persistent failure to provide adequate medical care in Bahrain’s prisons. This has endangered the health of some unjustly imprisoned persons with chronic medical conditions, such as Hassan Mushaima and Dr Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, who may now be at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19.
Hassan Mushaima, 72, has diabetes, gout, heart and prostate problems, and is also in remission for cancer. Prison authorities have routinely failed to take him to appointments due to his refusal to submit to wearing humiliating shackles during transfers to his appointments. International human rights mechanisms have said that the use of restraints on elderly or infirm prisoners who do not pose an escape risk can constitute ill-treatment.
Dr Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, 57, has post-polio syndrome and uses a wheelchair. Prison authorities have also refused to transport him to his medical appointments due to his refusal to wear shackles.
“As the world faces the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, it is more important than ever that the international community work together to contain its spread and ensure that the health and rights of the vulnerable are protected,” said Husain Abdullah, Executive Director at ADHRB. “Bahrain’s allies, in particular the UK and US, should explicitly call on Bahrain to secure the release of all those solely imprisoned for their peaceful opposition to the government.”
States have an obligation to ensure medical care for all those in their custody at least equivalent to that available to the general population and must not deny or limit detainees equal access to preventive, curative or palliative health care. Given that conditions in detention centers pose a heightened public health risk to the spread of COVID-19, and the persistent failure to provide an adequate level of care to those in their custody, there are grave concerns about whether prison authorities could effectively control the spread of COVID-19 and care for prisoners if there is an outbreak inside Bahrain’s prisons.
The Bahraini authorities should seize the opportunity to immediately and unconditionally release everyone imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their rights to free expression, including Hassan Mushaima, Dr Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, Abdulahdi Al-Khawaja, Abdulwahab Hussain, Nabeel Rajab, Naji Fateel, and Sheikh Ali Salman. The convictions of those imprisoned following unfair trials – including Sayed Nizar Alwadaei – should be quashed, or at the very least they should be released pending fair re-trial.
The risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to those in detention should be a strong factor weighing toward the reduction of the prison population through the release of pre-trial detainees, particularly given the poor, unsanitary conditions in Bahrain’s prisons and the inadequate provision of medical care. In addition, prisoners who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, such as those with underlying medical conditions and the elderly, should be considered for early release, parole, or alternative non-custodial measures as a means to further reduce the prison population and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In any event, the authorities should ensure that anyone who remains in custody has access to disease prevention and treatment services, including ensuring physical distancing of prisoners at all times, including in housing and eating and social areas. Prison authorities should screen all guards to prevent the introduction of COVID-19 into prisons and provide appropriate information on hygiene and supplies and ensure that all areas accessible to prisoners, prison staff, and visitors are disinfected regularly. They should develop plans for housing people exposed to or infected with the virus in quarantine or isolation and ensure that necessary medical care is available.
“Bahrain’s first wave of prison releases was positive, but insufficient,” said Joe Stork, Deputy Middle East Director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should further reduce the prison population by releasing those who are imprisoned solely for their political beliefs or for exercising their right to free speech and peaceful assembly. Meanwhile, the authorities should ramp up efforts to ensure that the remaining prison population has access to the medical care, is protected from transmission and is provided the information that they need to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“With Coronavirus presenting an unprecedented threat to life, it is vital that Bahrain’s political prisoners are released. Since 2011, the government has pursued a campaign of revenge against opposition leaders and rights activists for calling for democratic reforms; it is time for them to rise above petty politics to protect the life of all their citizens.” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at BIRD.
Signed by:
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
Amnesty International
ARTICLE 19
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR)
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
English PEN
European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GC4HR)
Human Rights First (HRF)
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
IFEX
Index on Censorship
International Service For Human Rights (ISHR)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
PEN America
PEN International
REDRESS
Reprieve
Download a PDF of the statement here: Free Imprisoned Rights Defenders and Activists
]]>Last Thursday, the Bahrain News Agency announced that 901 prisoners will be granted a royal pardon “for humanitarian reasons, in the backdrop of current circumstances.” In addition, the Ministry of Interior announced that a further 585 prisoners will be granted alternative sentences.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) confirmed that the release of prisoners had been completed. According to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), which has been documenting the releases, the overwhelming majority of those who benefitted from early release were foreign nationals or individuals on criminal charges and were largely nearing the end of their sentences.
While BCHR found the release did include at least 300 political prisoners, prominent political leaders and human rights defenders will remain behind bars including Hassan Mushaima, Dr Abduljalil Al Singace and Nabeel Rajab, all of whom have pre-existing medical conditions which put them at greater risk from the Coronavirus.
The release also excluded individuals deemed to be arbitrarily detained by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, including 21-year old Sayed Nizar Alwadaei, who was convicted in 2017 in an act of “reprisal” for the activism of his cousin, BIRD’s Director of Advocacy Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei. Zakeya Al Barboori, Bahrain’s last female political prisoner, will also remain as one of just 13 female prisoners left incarcerated in the country.
The decision to release prisoners appears to be aimed at limiting the spread of Coronavirus within Bahraini prisons, which a government watchdog found in 2016 to suffer from “overcrowding,” “broken toilets,” “insect infestation” and general “bad hygiene.” In January, an outbreak of scabies infected over 100 individuals at the Dry Dock Detention Centre, where inmates have long complained of unsanitary conditions.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at BIRD, commented: “By excluding prominent human rights activists, as well as vulnerable inmates and those declared arbitrarily detained, the government has missed a valuable opportunity to demonstrate compassion during an unprecedented international pandemic. There has been no transparency on the part of the government regarding the identities of those released and it now transpires that the vast majority are either criminals or foreign nationals who will be immediately deported.”
Enas Oun, Head of Documentation at BCHR, commented: “While we welcome the positive decision to release a number of detainees on humanitarian grounds, our documentation suggests that the overwhelming majority of those released are a mixture of foreign nationals and Bahrainis held for criminal offences. Only a limited number of political prisoners have been released and we were disappointed not to see the inclusion of more juveniles and inmates with health conditions. We are also saddened that BCHR’s president, Nabeel Rajab, was excluded, as were BCHR founding member Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and activist Naji Fateel, all of whom are held for merely expressing their human right to free expression and assembly.”
Husain Abdulla, Executive Director at Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, commented: “In this time of crisis, the government should put aside petty quarrels and end this painful chapter in our history by releasing political detainees, including opposition leaders Hassan Mushaima and Dr Abduljallil Al Singace and human rights defender Nabeel Rajab.”
Featured image of Nabeel Rajab via Conor McCabe, Abdulhadi AlKhawaja via Alisdare Hickson
]]>The report points to the Bahrain’s government’s violent crackdown on its citizens as evidence of an unrelenting campaign against all forms of dissent. All opposition parties and independent media remain dissolved, while protests continue to be brutally crushed, critical voices targeted and online criticism policed through obtrusive cybercrime legislation. Over 300 people were convicted in mass trials during 2019, while the judiciary continued to rely on confessions rather than physical evidence, encouraging the persistence of torture in Bahraini detention centres.
Deteriorating Prison Conditions
The report also sheds light on the deterioration of prison conditions in Bahrain throughout 2019, with inmates describing a range of abuses including religious discrimination, torture and unsanitary conditions, amongst other issues. These issues compelled over 600 prisoners to launch a hunger strike in August 2019 to demand their basic rights be respected.
Bahrain was also widely condemned for its consistently failing to provide inmates with an adequate standard of medical care, with Joe Stork from Human Rights Watch describing the practice as “outrageous”. Aging opposition leaders including Hassan Mushaima and academic Dr Abdujalil al-Singace complain that they are systematically subjected to medical negligence due to their political status. Similarly, Hajer Mansoor, who remains arbitrarily detained in reprisal for the activism of her son-in-law, BIRD Director of Advocacy Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, has regularly reported medical negligence at Isa Town Female Detention Centre, alongside targeted discrimination by prison authorities.
Continued British Support, Despite Abuses
BIRD found that the government of the United Kingdom has consistently failed to acknowledge or act upon international warnings about human rights violations in Bahrain, while maintaining technical and financial support to institutions known to be ineffective or abusive. Funding for the UK government’s so-called “technical assistance” to Bahrain continues to be channeled through the highly secretive Integrated Activity Fund, precluding adequate scrutiny of Britain’s relationship with Bahrain.
The report also highlights a number of government scandals, including the $5 billion Petrofac lobbying scandal, the storming of the Bahraini embassy in London by police in mid-summer and the ongoing torture debacles at the University of Huddersfield. In a unique move, the report tracks official and unofficial visits by British ministers, diplomats and members of the armed forces to their Bahraini counterparts, to illustrate the intimate links between powerful British institutions and Bahrain’s ruling elite.
Sportswashing Emerges as Key Regime PR strategy
Throughout 2019, BIRD’s campaigning and advocacy focused heavily on exposing Bahrain’s attempts to normalise its position in the global economy through investment in sporting and cultural events. A chapter in the report tracks the tangled web of economic interests tying Bahrain’s ruling elites to a wide portfolio of sporting ventures, including motorsport, athletics, cycling and combat sports, which have proven to be both effective PR and highly lucrative.
As “sportswashing” has become increasingly central to Bahrain’s international relations strategy, the government has aggressively targeted any of its citizens who undermines the image of prosperity and normalcy that they have tried to project. In 2019, BIRD successfully exposed Bahrain’s targeting of those who criticise the government’s cynical exploitation of professional sport, with significant campaigns contributing to the release of refugee footballer Hakeem AlAraibi and activist Najah Yusuf and professional footballer Hakeem AlAraibi.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) commented: “The situation in Bahrain continued to deteriorate in 2019 and sadly there is little sign that it will improve as we enter a new decade. Bahrain’s regime has been emboldened by the apparently unconditional support of their British allies and as we enter the post-Brexit era, the UK’s propensity to put trade above human rights seems likely to increase.”
Read the full report here
]]>Isa Town Female Detention Centre
The experts’ revelations were revealed yesterday by The Independent, in Medina’s first interview since she was released last month under alternative sentencing legislation having served over two years at Bahrain’s Isa Town Female Detention Centre. However, the Special Rapporteurs demanded to know why both Hajer and Nabeel’s applications for alternative sentencing have been rejected, despite their eligibility.
According to the Special Rapporteurs, staff at Isa Town committed a range of abuses against Medina and Hajer during their imprisonment, including assaulting both women after their cases were discussed in the UK Parliament in September 2018.
Other abuses reported include the prison’s repeated failure to schedule appointments with specialist doctors or provide the results of medical examinations, installing a glass barrier during family visits preventing physical contact between the women and their children, as well as religious discrimination and other forms of harrassment.
The experts also accused the National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR), a human rights oversight body that has received training funded by the UK-taxpayer, of attempting to defame rights groups, including BIRD, for raising human rights concerns at the UN Human Rights Council. The NIHR’s vice-president allegedly threatened Medina that she would be returned to prison if she spoke to “anyone from abroad” about her experience in prison after her release.
When approached for comment by journalists, a spokesperson for the Bahrain Embassy in London asserted that Hajer and Medina’s allegations are “without substance,” adding that it is wrong to “characterise the Kingdom of Bahrain as ‘repressive’ or to claim that it practises or tolerates the mistreatment or torture of those in custody. In reality, no person is detained or prosecuted in the Kingdom of Bahrain for peaceful freedom of expression, nor for legitimate peaceful activism.”
However, while the Bahraini government has claimed that the prisoners are allowed out of their cells for eight hours a day, the NIHR has conceded that female prisoners are permitted only two hours a day outside of their cells.
Jau Prison
The letter also highlighted the ongoing abuse of Nabeel Rajab, Bahrain’s most prominent human rights defender, at the notorious Jau Prison. Nabeel has reportedly been arbitrarily “isolated from other prisoners from the same category as him”, with prison authorities housing him instead in a cell with nine inmates “convicted of prostitution crimes, most of them foreign nationals.”
Nabeel’s health has deteriorated considerably in prison and he is often forced to wait months for consultations with specialist doctors for the range of illnesses he now suffers from, including breathing difficulties, arrhythmia, prediabetes, chronic dermatological diseases, hypertension and hypothyroidism.
The Special Rapporteurs concluded by urging the government to intervene to “halt the alleged violations and prevent their re-occurrence.”
Husain Abdulla, Executive Director at Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) commented:
“The revelations contained in this letter from 8 UN experts should be an alarm bell to all international governments that claim to defend democracy and human rights, particularly those in Washington and London. Hajer and Nabeel continue to languish in arbitrary detention, subject to treatment which may amount to torture.”
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) commented:
“The UN’s recognition that my mother-in-law Hajer, Nabeel and Medina have been appallingly mistreated is a message to the Bahraini regime that their abuses will not pass unchallenged. The UK must now be asked whether they have played a role in covering-up abuses in Bahrain and whether taxpayer-funded training is contributing to the suffering of political detainees.”
Read the full UN experts letter.
Read ‘This isn’t humanity’: Inside the Bahraini women’s prison overseen by officials trained with UK money’ – The Independent.
Photo of Nabeel Rajab from Conor McCabe via Flickr
]]>While the government did not disclose the names of inmates to be released, a number of political prisoners have already returned home. There were jubilant scenes as Medina Ali was released yesterday, greeted by family members and human rights activist Ebtisam Al Saegh. Three sisters from Diraz convicted in political cases, Iman, Amal and Fatima Ali, were also freed.
Political Prisoner Medina Ali was released under alternative sentencing in #Bahrain today after a royal decree.
Medina was arrested in 2017 and unlawfully sentenced to 3 years imprisonment.
The below video footage shows her joyous return home. pic.twitter.com/DfSktmJPYn
— BIRD (@BirdBahrain_) December 16, 2019
There are now only 2 female political detainees left imprisoned in Bahrain; Zakeya Al Barboori and Hajer Mansoor, whose sentence the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has deemed to be an act of “reprisal” for the activism of her son-in-law, BIRD’s Director of Advocacy Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei.
3 sisters – Iman, Amal and Fatima Ali – all imprisoned on political charges, have been been released on alternative sentencing today under a royal decree.
There are now only 2 female political detainees imprisoned in #Bahrain – Zakeya Al Barboori & Hajer Mansoor. pic.twitter.com/UICbPy8SCw
— BIRD (@BirdBahrain_) December 16, 2019
Despite having under three months of her unlawful sentence left to serve and fulfilling the criteria for a non-custodial sentence, Hajer Mansoor was not pardoned or granted early release. Her requests for alternative sentencing have also been repeatedly rejected without cause, suggesting the government’s decision to be punitive. Other high-profile political prisoners, including Bahrain’s preeminent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, will also remain in jail, despite eligibility for alternative sentencing, as will opposition leaders Hasan Mushaima, Dr Abduljalil Al Singace and Abdulhadi Al Khawaja.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at BIRD, commented: “It is heartbreaking to see my mother-in-law singled out in a blatant act of revenge for my activism. Despite her eligibility for early release, Bahrain has consistently rejected her requests, demonstrating their continued intolerance for any form of criticism or dissent. Bahrain retains the highest prison population rate in the Arab world, demonstrating that today’s releases are largely symbolic. Without the release of Bahrain’s prominent human rights defenders and opposition figures, the political crisis in the country will remain unresolved.
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BIRD condemns today’s decision in the strongest term and urges Bahrain to release Rajab immediately and unconditionally.
Bahrain has recently introduced Law No.18 of 2017 concerning alternative sentencing, allowing for individuals to be released from prison and serve the remainder of their sentence in the form of community service, house arrest, or the payment of fines. Despite applying for alternative sentencing, Rajab has been rejected multiple times without justification.
Rajab was originally sentenced to five years in prison on 21 February 2018 for tweeting his condemnation of airstrikes in Yemen mounted by the Saudi-led coalition and exposing the widespread torture occuring in Bahrain’s notorious Jau Prison. Bahrain’s Court of Cassation upheld his sentence on 31 December 2018.
The UK government received delegations from Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Justice in August 2018 and March 2019 as part of its technical assistance programme to Bahrain, to discuss the scope and implementation of the law, BIRD learned through a Freedom of Information request. These visits incurred a total cost of £14,319 of taxpayers’ money. Nonetheless, multiple eligible political prisoners applying for alternative sentencing, such as Rajab, have been rejected without justification.
The UK government said that the Embassy in Manama has “regularly attended” Rajab’s court hearings and “closely monitored” his trials, but that they were “not aware of Mr Rajab’s application, and subsequent rejection, for alternative sentencing.” The UK has never called for his release.
Rajab has exhausted all legal remedies and remains in prison, in what the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention described as “arbitrary detention.” Since his arrest in June 2016, Rajab was sentenced to seven years imprisonment as a result of two separate trials, both of which violate Rajab’s right to free and peaceful expression.
Yesterday, Donald Trump met with Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, who said that Bahrain has signed an agreement to purchase US Patriot missile battery.
In response to the decision today, Nabeel Rajab’s family said: Rejection after rejection for a man who is in jail for a tweet is a manifestation of the state of injustice our father is subjected to.
Commenting, BIRD’s Director of Advocacy, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, said: This is sadly what we have come to expect from Bahrain’s corrupt judicial system. Today’s decision to keep the country’s leading human rights defender behind bars is purely political and the latest shameful attempt to stifle dissent. Trump made clear yesterday that his administration intends to continue selling arms to Bahrain’s dictators while totally disregarding their appalling human rights record.
Background Information
Rajab is the co-founder and President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, as well as a founding director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights. Due to his advocacy, he has received a number of awards recognising his work, including the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award in 2011 and was a finalist for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2018.
The social media activity held against Rajab occurred entirely in 2015. On 2 April 2015, Rajab was arrested and charged with the following:
He was released three months later on 13 July 2015 on humanitarian grounds, therefore his charges were never taken to court.
Rajab was again arrested on 13 June 2016 for an unrelated charge, for which he was eventually sentenced to two years in prison in July 2017 for speaking to journalists.
While in detention, Rajab’s trial for his social media activity commenced with its first hearing on 12 July 2016. The trial was postponed 20 times, with a decision being made in the 21st court hearing on 21 February 2018.
BIRD has obtained Rajab’s Public Prosecution documentation, which represents a dossier of all the incriminating tweets for which Rajab is being held accountable.
Rajab’s exposure of the widespread torture inflicted upon inmates in Bahraini prisons occasionally involved criticism of Bahraini oversight institutions, including the National Institute for Human Rights and the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman, both recipients of training funded by the UK. The Public Prosecution documentation further revealed that Rajab’s conviction to five years was also based on re-tweets of critical comments made by others, including the scathing reporting of torture in Jau Prison by Human Rights Watch .
Tweets on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen were also considered offensive including: “We have the right to say no to the war in #Yemen and should struggle for peace and stability but not bloodshed #Sanaa.”
]]>The signatories asked Clooney to use her position to press the British government to call for the release of the six journalists currently imprisoned in Bahrain, including photojournalist Hassan Qambar, who was sentenced to over 100 years in prison for his covering of local protests.
They also called on her to encourage Bahrain to relax restrictions on freedom of expression by ending the ban on criticising the King and lifting vaguely worded cybercrime legislation designed to “silence the right to freedom of expression” on social media. In a rare move, social media giant Twitter criticised the legislation, describing it as a “significant risk to freedom of expression and journalism.”
Referencing the tightly controlled media landscape in Bahrain, the signatories entreated Clooney to pressure Bahrain into rescinding the ban on Al-Wasat, Bahrain’s only independent newspaper which was forcibly closed in 2017 and to allow immediate visits from the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
The letter also criticised Bahrain’s ambassador to the UK, Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohamad Al Khalifa, drawing attention to his history of suppressing media freedom in Bahrain. As president of the Information Affairs Authority during the Arab Spring, Sheikh Fawaz oversaw the censorship of the press and the deportation of foreign-national journalists, causing Bahrain to fall 46 places on RSF’s Press Freedom Index. Since 2012, Bahrain has fallen a further two places and now sits at 167th out 180 countries.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at BIRD, commented: “The creeping criminalisation of free speech in Bahrain has continued unabated for far too long. Since 2011, journalists have been arbitrarily detained, tortured and even murdered for exercising their right to free expression and many remain behind bars to this day, while perpetrators go unpunished. We appeal to Amal Clooney to use her position as Special Envoy on Media Freedom to shed vital light on this issue and keep Bahrain as a priority for her framework.”
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Commenting, the Director of Advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, said: “During his meeting with Bahrain’s monarch, President Macron should advocate for the release of political prisoners in Bahrain. Among those imprisoned for peacefully criticising the Government of Bahrain is Nabeel Rajab, whose admirable efforts to promote human rights earned him the status of an honorary citizen of Paris. Failure to raise the appalling human rights crackdown should be viewed as stain on France’s historical commitment to human rights and individual freedoms as enshrined in its constitution.”
Please find the full letter below:
President Macron
Palais de l’Élysée
55 Rue du Faubourg,
Saint-Honoré,
75008 Paris,
France
29 April 2019
Dear President Macron,
We write to you in anticipation of your meeting in Paris tomorrow with King Hamad bin Isa AlKhalifa to urge that you press him to show a greater respect for his citizens’ rights to freedom of assembly, association, expression, nationality and life.
France has a long history of protecting free speech and has previously criticised Bahrain for its “treatment of human rights defenders and political opponents.” Today, we call on you to honour this tradition by advocating for those who have been punished for voicing their opinion.
Nabeel Rajab: Honorary Citizen of Paris
In 2018, the Council of Paris made Nabeel Rajab, the imprisoned Director of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, an honorary citizen of the French capital for his tireless campaigning for human rights in the Gulf region. Nabeel is serving a five year sentence in Bahrain’s notoroius Jau Prison for opposing the Saudi bombing of Yemen and exposing torture in Bahraini jails on Twitter. In 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for Nabeel’s immediate release, declaring his imprisonment to be “arbitrary.”
Deterioration of Civil Society and Human Rights
Nabeel’s case is part of a wider crackdown on political dissent. Since the emergence of pro-democracy protests in 2011, the government of Bahrain has instigated a campaign of repression which has exploited national security concerns as a pretext to stifle dissent and severely curtail human rights in the country. Bahrain, one of the smallest countries on earth, now holds the highest prison rate in the Arab world and its prisons have been condemned by rights groups for denying inmates medical treatment for life-threatening illnesses.
Over the last three years, this crackdown has intensified considerably, with torture remaining a “widespread” practice in the country, according to the UN Committee Against Torture. In 2017, executions resumed in Bahrain after a seven year hiatus. At least 20 people remain on death row for political crimes, including two facing imminent execution.The same year, the government forcibly closed the country’s only independent newspaper and dissolved the country’s main opposition parties.
The government regularly uses spurious accusations of terrorism as a pretext to persecute journalists and human rights defenders, particularly for comments posted on social media. Activist Najah Yusuf, who was tortured and sexually assaulted during interrogation, is serving a three year sentence for protesting against the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix on Facebook. Earlier this year, the opposition leader Ebrahim Sharif, was sentenced for tweets criticising the deposed Sudanese president Omar Albashir.
Furthermore, the government has increasingly used the revocation of citizenship as a means to suppress dissenting voices, with almost 1000 Bahrainis stripped of their citizenship since 2012. As women are still unable to pass citizenship to their children, denaturalising citizens risks perpetuating statelessness across generations.
Concerningly, repression in Bahrain extends beyond the country’s borders. In 2017, the government imprisoned family members of exiled human rights defender Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, after he protested at Downing Street against King Hamad’s visit to London. The United Nations have condemned their sentences as “acts of reprisal.”
Our requests
Emboldened by the prevailing political climate, despotic regimes across the Arab Gulf have become increasingly flagrant in their disdain for international human rights norms. We implore you to assert France’s continued commitment to the values of liberty, equality and fraternity enshrined in your constitution by advocating for the:
Yours sincerely,
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei
Director of Advocacy
The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
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